A maquette of how the new statue of Sylvia Pankhurst would look

HISTORIC Clerkenwell Green is known for being at the epicentre of protest and revolt – so perhaps it is fitting that an application to erect a statue dedicated to one of Britain’s great dissenters there is itself at the centre of a dispute.

The Sylvia Pankhurst Committee says getting the 8ft high figure of the Suffragette installed would be the perfect tribute to the “sidelined” Pankhurst.

It will show her “bustling towards the Marx Memorial Library” at the entrance to the square, carrying her papers and her placards.

Both her sister Christabel and mother, Emmeline, have been commemorated with statues in Westminster.

But Ann Pembroke, the founder of the Clerkenwell Green Preservation Society said this week Ms Pankhurst’s statue is “unwanted” as she has “nothing to do with Clerkenwell”.

She said it proved unpopular with the society and local businesses in 2017 when meetings were held to discuss it.

Similarly, the statue, which has already been cast, was snubbed by the House of Lords when the committee attempted to have it erected near Parliament.

Clerkenwell Green

Ms Pembroke said: “We don’t ever want any statues. We don’t want any commercial encroachment on the Green at all.

“They should push it where it belongs: Sylvia’s heart was in the East End. That’s where she lived.

“That’s where she worked. I don’t think she’d like it here ­– I think she’d run off and she’d run home and they’d just be left with a plinth with her name on it.”

But Philippa Clark, one of four members of the Sylvia Pankhurst Committee, said: “The campaign has gone on for over 20 years. It’s been something of a challenge but like Sylvia we’ve remained undaunted.

“She was more than just a votes for women campaigner, she was a hugely political figure. She and her partner Silvio were among the first to speak out against fascism in Italy.

“They were working with the Italian community in Clerkenwell in the 1920s. A pub nearby – the Gunmaker’s Arms – is where she gave one of her speeches; she made a significant speech there.”

Sylvia Pankhurst

Ms Clark added: “She organised the ‘hands off Russia’ public meeting on Farringdon Road, which was enormous, when people were trying to destabilise Russia after the Bolsheviks had won in 1917. Clerkenwell Green is classed as the head­quarters of revolt and revolution and that’s one of the reasons we thought the statue was very fitting there.”

Ms Pankhurst fought for women’s suffrage alongside her mother and sister, but they became estranged after 1918 when they disagreed after votes for women were only partially won.

Sylvia Pankhurst later became the first in Britain to campaign against Mussolini’s black-shirted facists, as well as an advocate for anti-racism in America and anti-colonialism in Africa.

On her death in 1960 she was granted a state funeral in Ethiopia, where she had settled in her final years.

Both the Trades Union Congress and the City of London Corporation have helped fund the statue, while a crowdfunding drive has raised thousands of pounds.

MP Emily Thornberry and Ann Pembroke

The Marx Memorial Library, which holds a maquette of the statue, and Islington South MP Emily Thornberry are also in support of the statue.

Ms Thornberry called it “brilliant”, adding: “I can think of no better home for this wonderful statue, of this great socialist, who had such an impact on women’s lives, than in Clerkenwell Green.”

Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury and a former culture minister, is a patron of the committee, alongside actor Maxine Peake, known for her roles in Shameless and Dinner Ladies, who has spoken publicly about her passion for Ms Pankhurst.

Visitors to the statue will be able to use a phone app to hear Ms Peake talk about her life and campaigns.

An Islington Council spokesperson said the statue was subject to a planning application by the Sylvia Pankhurst Committee, which the council would review, so they would not be able to comment until that process was completed.