Madame Tussauds have announced that, ahead of International Women’s Day (March 8), they will be unveiling a new figure of Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.
Joining the group of waxworks at the famous Madame Tussauds in Baker Street, the model of Emmeline Pankhurst arrives to mark 120 years since the political activist co-founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WPSU). This was a key moment in the fight towards equal voting rights for men and women in the UK.
The figure of Emmeline Pankhurst that is set to be unveiled at Madame Tussauds shows the Suffragette standing on a chair, as the activist often did among crowds so they could hear her speeches.
Pankhurst’s waxwork is dressed in the purple and white colours of the Suffragette movement, with her lapel also displaying the hunger strike medal.
To honour the occasion, a group of modern-day feminist activists – Florence Given, Charlie Craggs and Ben Hurst – visited the attraction of waxworks to celebrate the life and work of Emmeline Pankhurst.
Florence Given, author of Women Don’t Owe You Pretty (2020) and Girlcrush (2022), said: “Her legacy was so immense. I know that sounds so basic and straightforward and it doesn’t feel like it’s going to make a massive change but it’s a tiny domino effect.
“You can never say the same things enough times as there’s someone who will be hearing it for the first time too. You don’t always need a platform, sometimes your platform can be your family table and that’s your soapbox.”
This marks the second statue of Emmeline Pankhurst at Madame Tussauds, after the first went up all the way back in 1908. When asked about what he thinks feminism will look like in 120 years, activist and author at TedX Ben Hurst said that he feels “this bit of the problem should be solved because we’ve evolved as a species and our disagreements should be about what genre of music people like instead of who people are and our identities.”
Guests will be able to come and see the new waxwork figure of Emmeline Pankhurst from International Women’s Day, which takes place on March 8.
Author and activist Charlie Craggs said: “Emmeline Pankhurst never sorted it (gender equity) in her lifetime, and I don’t think we’ll see it in our lifetime, but I don’t think we’re doing it to see it in our lifetime. Just like Emmeline Pankhurst did it for us, we’re doing it for the next generation and I think that’s how we’re going to win.”