IWD: Emmeline Pankhurst statue unveiled at Madame Tussauds

Emmeline Pankhurst is dressed in white and purple, the colours of the Suffragette movement

Madam Tussauds has unveiled a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst to celebrate International Women's Day.

It also marks 120 years since Pankhurst co-founded the ground-breaking Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).

The political activist was one of the key figures of the Suffragette movement and helped women win equal voting rights.

Pankhurst is depicted standing on a chair outside Downing Street wearing a hunger strike medal.

General manager at Madame Tussauds London, Tim Waters, said: "This is the second figure that we have created of Emmeline Pankhurst after she was first immortalised in 1908 during the Suffragette movement.

"With her new figure, we are able to bring history back to life in a way that only Madame Tussauds London can, by giving guests the opportunity to see her in 3D, as though stood amongst the crowd at one of her famous rousing speeches."

Emmeline Pankhurst died just a few weeks before voting rights were extended to all women over 21

The statue was unveiled by feminist activist, illustrator and writer, Florence Given who reflected on Pankhurst's legacy and the progress that has been made in the past 100 years.

She said: "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." 

A memorial to Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel has been located near the Palace of Westminster since the 1930s.

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