Diane Abbott MP: Recollections of the 2007 unveiling of the Statute of Nelson Mandela

I was privileged to be present at the unveiling of the bronze statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square in August 2007. The fact that it was unveiled at all was a triumph for the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. A few years earlier the Conservative led Westminster council had refused permission.

The evening before there had been a celebratory dinner to mark the event at the Dorchester Hotel. It was one of those events that can genuinely be described as “star studded”. Mandela himself did not attend. He was saving his strength for the ceremony the following day. But Mandela family members and a host of celebrities were there. One celebrity stands out in my mind however and that was the super-model Naomi Campbell. I had brought my fifteen year old son, who is normally a hardened cynic when it comes to “celebrities” But all cynicism fell away when he saw the beautiful Naomi. I effected an introduction and he stood in front of her speechless with admiration. She was sweet, modest and utterly charming to him. And all the way home in the car, all he could say was that he would never wash his hand again because it had been touched by Naomi Campbell! So when the day dawned to attend the unveiling my son, usually blasé about these things, begged to be allowed to attend. I did not have a ticket for him, but I got him in anyway. I would like to think that he wanted to go to see the historic unveiling, but in truth he wanted to see the beauteous Naomi again. He did see her, she recognised him, was as charming as ever and his day was made.

But the unveiling itself was truly memorable. All of us there were aware that it would be one  the last times we saw Mandela in the UK again and we were determined to revel in the event. Because of my close political relationship with Ken Livingstone, I had a seat with a good view of the proceedings. For someone who had spent her early years picketing, marching and demonstrating in the cause of anti-apartheid , it was still a marvel to see Nelson Mandela free and an honoured statesman. And it was very appropriate that someone who had fought to bring “one-person-one-vote” and  democracy to millions of Africans was having a statue erected in his honour in front of the “Mother of Parliaments” Mandela was clearly very frail, but when he uttered his first words “Friends” the crowd erupted with joy. Mandela went out of his way to praise Gordon Brown, then a brand new prime minister. But the most touching aspect of the speech for me was Mandela reminiscing about his first visit to London in 1962 , before the Rivonia trial and before the twenty-eight long years in prison. He was accompanied by his then law partner Oliver Tambo who was to go on to be the leader of the ANC in exile. They had wondered if there would ever be a statue of black person in Westminster, standing alongside all those effigies of imperialist heroes and generals. Well forty five years later  it happened.  And I was there to see it unveiled.  

 
Diane Abbott MP: Tribute to Nelson Mandela