Westminster Council weighs future of Banksy’s flag statue without setting a decision date

Westminster City Council says it has explored options for the long-term future of Banksy’s Blinded by the Flag statue in central London, but has made no formal decision. The update leaves visitors without an answer on whether the Waterloo Place sculpture will remain where it is, and gives no date for a decision.

A council spokesperson told the BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service: ‘Over the summer the council has been exploring all options for the Banksy Statue in Waterloo Place. No formal decision has been made about its long-term future.’ The spokesperson did not identify those options. The BBC reported that the work is expected to be discussed at an upcoming cabinet meeting, without giving a meeting date or saying that a decision is scheduled for that meeting.

Who is responsible for the sculpture?

The council describes itself as the statue’s custodian and says it has been in contact with Banksy’s team. According to the BBC, Banksy owns the copyright while the council bears the cost of keeping the physical work safe. Those are different responsibilities: the artist’s ownership of the image does not tell readers what the council will decide about the statue’s place in the street.

In August, the council told the BBC in response to a Freedom of Information request that it had spent almost £60,000 on safety barriers, administration and a security guard. That figure was disclosed before the latest update; the council has not supplied a revised total or described an additional safety plan in the September report. The BBC said the sculpture was largely undisturbed, although its plinth had been marked with a spray-painted tag.

An earlier expectation has passed

The absence of a decision follows a more specific timetable given in July. At that point, a council spokesperson told The Art Newspaper that a conclusion about the work’s longevity was expected by the end of the summer. The spokesperson also said it would remain on view for at least the next few weeks. The council’s September statement says no formal decision has been made and gives no explanation for the change from that earlier expectation.

Westminster Labour councillors took a public position soon after the statue appeared. In a statement published on 4 May, they said they wanted it to stay as long as Banksy was content with that. They suggested the work could become part of plans to make Waterloo Place and Lower Regent Street traffic-free. That was a party statement about a proposed future for the area, rather than a formal decision on the sculpture’s long-term status.

The same statement placed the idea within a wider scheme being developed with the Crown Estate and said public consultation was planned for the summer. It described changes to the streets as proposals. The September report does not say whether that scheme has advanced, or whether it is among the options the council is now considering for the statue.

Local reporting in May showed that the parties had expressed different approaches to the question. Westminster Extra quoted Labour councillor Geoff Barraclough saying the party wanted to keep the work and saw a possible connection to a pedestrianised area. It reported that Conservative candidate Mark Shearer said his party would speak to council officers about the statue’s future if it took control of the council. Neither earlier campaign position establishes what the council will do now.

What remains open

The sculpture’s future is not settled by its continued presence at Waterloo Place. Banksy has installed sculpture in London before: the Guardian reported that his 2004 work The Drinker, placed on Shaftesbury Avenue, was removed shortly after it appeared. That precedent offers context for the uncertainty around public artworks, but does not indicate an outcome for Blinded by the Flag.

For now, the concrete position is limited. The council says it has explored options, remains responsible for safeguarding the physical statue and has made no formal decision. It has not disclosed which options are under consideration, when cabinet will discuss the work, what further protection might cost or when it expects to announce an outcome.