1st statue of woman on London's Parliament Square unveiled

LONDON -- The first statue of a woman in London’s Parliament Square was unveiled today.

Millicent Fawcett, a leading suffragist who played a key role in securing women older than 30 the right to vote in 1918, was commemorated outside the British Parliament, which is already home to 11 statues of men, including Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, who took part in the ceremony, tweeted before the unveiling that she would not be where she is today if not for Fawcett, a feminist and union leader who died in 1929.

“I would not be here today as PM, no female MPs would have taken their seats in Parliament, none of us would have the rights and protections we now enjoy, were it not for Millicent Fawcett,” she wrote.

Other female British MPs also tweeted in celebration of the new statue.

The bronze version of the women’s rights campaigner holds a banner with the words “Courage calls to courage everywhere,” a line from one of her speeches.

The statue was created by Gillian Wearing, the first female artist to have a sculpture placed on Parliament Square.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who also participated in the event, called it “inspiring” to stand with women who have worked for gender equality.

“I want London to be a beacon for women’s rights and equality,” he said.

In 1897, Fawcett became the president of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, a group of women’s suffrage societies in the U.K.

She remained the president of the group for more than 20 years.