The statue of Margaret Thatcher in the Guildhall, London, is a marble sculpture of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

. It was commissioned in 1998 from the sculptor Neil Simmons by the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

's Advisory Committee on Works of Art; paid for by an anonymous donor, it was intended for a plinth among statues of former

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the principal minister of the crown of His Majesty's Government, and the head of the British Cabinet. There is no specific date for when the office of prime minister first appeared, as the role was n ...

in the

Members' Lobby The Members' Lobby is a hallway in the Palace of Westminster used by members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Members of Parliament may congregate here for discussions while not dealing with other ...

of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. However as the House did not permit a statue to be erected there during its subject's lifetime, the work had been temporarily housed in Guildhall. It was unveiled there by Lady Thatcher in February 2002.

Decapitation

On 3 July 2002, theatre producer Paul Kelleher

decapitated Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

the statue while it was on display at Guildhall Art Gallery. Having unsuccessfully taken a swing at the statue with a

Slazenger Slazenger () is a British sports equipment brand owned by the Frasers Group (formerly Sports Direct). The company was established as a sporting goods shop in 1881 by Ralph and Albert Slazenger on London's Cannon Street.J. R. Lowerson, 'Slazen ...

V600 cricket bat concealed in his trousers, Kelleher picked up a metal pole from a nearby rope cordon and used it to decapitate the £150,000 statue. After the vandalism he waited to be arrested by the police who arrived minutes later. He joked on capture: "I think it looks better like that." Following the loss of its head, the statue was removed from display. Although it was estimated that the work could be repaired for about £10,000, statue experts worried that it would never be the same. At his first trial, Kelleher said in his defence that the attack involved his "artistic expression and my right to interact with this broken world". The jury, despite nearly four hours of deliberation and a direction from the judge that it could decide by majority, failed to agree on whether or not he had "lawful excuse". He was retried in January 2003, found guilty of

criminal damage Property damage (or cf. criminal damage in England and Wales) is damage or destruction of real or tangible personal property, caused by negligence, willful destruction, or act of nature. It is similar to vandalism and arson (destroying proper ...

and sentenced to three months in jail. On 21 February 2007, a new statue of Thatcher was commissioned in 2003 from sculptor Antony Dufort and this time in tougher silicon bronze. It was erected on the reserved plinth in the Members' Lobby. The rule against living subjects had been relaxed by this stage and Thatcher unveiled the statue. By then, the marble statue had been repaired, but it remains in Guildhall. After several years in the Guildhall Art Gallery, the statue was moved to a corridor location elsewhere in the Guildhall building.

In popular culture

* "I Did It for Alfie", a song on the 2004 album '' Un'' by Chumbawamba that was directly inspired by the incident

References

{{Margaret Thatcher 1998 sculptures 2002 crimes in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in the City of London July 2002 events in the United Kingdom Marble sculptures in the United Kingdom Monuments and memorials in London Monuments and memorials to women Thatcher, Margaret Statues in London London, Guildhall Vandalized works of art in the United Kingdom