Brighton & Hove Councillors To Discuss Posthumous Freedom Of The City For Suffragette

A proposal to posthumously recognise suffragette Mary Clarke with the Freedom of the City award will be discussed at Full Council later this year.

The council is also holding a special meeting on Thursday, October 19 to discuss the revocation of the title from Myanmar politician Aung San Suu Kyi. 

The title of Honorary Freewoman or Freeman is awarded to people who have, in the opinion of the council, rendered eminent service to the council or the city.

Mary Jane Clarke was a vital figure in the women’s suffrage movement in the UK and our city, tirelessly campaigning for the women’s right to vote.

She was a co-founder of the National Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) with her older sister Emmeline Pankhurst and served as its organiser for Brighton from 1909 to 1910.

During her time in Brighton, she helped build the WSPU operation in the south east and organise the campaigns for the general election, often addressing crowds of supporters on the seafront.

She was one of the 300 women to demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament during what is now known as ‘Black Friday’, where she was injured and beaten by the police.

Throughout years of campaigning, she was a target of heckling and abuse. She was arrested 3 times and, in Holloway Prison, was subjected to force feeding – a cruel practice inflicted upon those on hunger strikes.

She died on Christmas Day in 1910, 2 days after her release from Holloway. Mary is widely believed to be the first suffragette to die for women’s right to vote. 

The council proposes to recognise her legacy, sacrifice and extraordinary courage with a Freedom of the City award, so that they don’t remain overlooked and hidden in history. 

Councillor Bella Sankey, Leader of the Council said:

“It would be an honour to posthumously dedicate the Freedom of the City award to Mary Clarke, whose extraordinary vision, dedication and strength helped shape the fabric of our city and the society we live in today.

“Mary’s story, along with stories of other women who fought alongside her to achieve equality and emancipation, often go unrecorded, forgotten or hidden from history.

“A hundred years later, in times when women’s rights must still be fought for, Mary’s sacrifice continues to resonate and needs to be amplified.”

Aung San Suu Kyi was admitted as an Honorary Freewoman of the City at a special council meeting on May 19, 2011 in recognition of her endeavours to bring democracy to Myanmar and ensure freedom for all.

However, after coming to power she enabled the ongoing systemic denial and failure to address the longstanding targeted abuse against the Muslim Rohingya community in her country.

During her time as a State Counsellor, she also appeared at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to defend the army’s persecution of this Muslim minority.

As a result, Suu Kyi was stripped off most of her honorary titles, degrees and awards, retaining her Nobel Peace Prize, which has traditionally never been revoked.

The council initially discussed rescinding Suu Kyi’s Freedom of the City award in 2018 but the proposal wasn’t met with necessary support. 

We now deem it necessary to revisit this issue, as the council believes the actions of Aung San Suu Kyi fundamentally contradict the values of our city and its ongoing commitment to equality and human rights.