Huddled figures on park benches are a common sight in Westminster, but a plan to draw attention to homelessness with an evocative statue in the heart of the UK’s political establishment has been met with a curt rebuff from officials in the London borough.

An application to place a life-size bronze cast of Homeless Jesus, a sculpture by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz, in front of Methodist Central Hall has been rejected on the grounds it “would fail to maintain or improve (preserve or enhance) the character or appearance of the Westminster Abbey and Parliament Square conservation area”.



The sculpture depicts a figure shrouded in a blanket and stretched out on a bench. The only clue to the person’s identity are his feet, poking out and bearing visible wounds of crucifixion.



Casts of the sculpture are displayed at the Vatican and in Dublin, Madrid, Washington DC and Toronto. The statue has divided opinion in some places but Pope Francis blessed the artwork in 2013, saying it was a “beautiful and excellent representation of Jesus”.

Martyn Atkins of Methodist Central said: “It depicts Jesus in a very human way. Some iconography is very grand and glorious. This is earthy and speaks of the fragility of the human condition.



“We thought it was evocative, classy and highly appropriate, especially in Westminster within spitting distance of parliament.”



Westminster city council did not share the Methodists’ view. It decreed that the location of the statue fell within its “monument saturation zone”, and failed to meet “S25 of our city plan… and DES7 of our unitary development plan… [and] would not comply with guidance in our supplementary planning document Statues and Monuments in Westminster”.



Atkins said the church was extremely disappointed at the rejection. “We’re led to the unfortunate conclusion that a sculpture of Jesus, depicted as homeless, isn’t welcome in Westminster and so close to the Houses of Parliament,” he said. “I imagine many people will find the council suggestion that this particular piece of public art would somehow lower the tone of the neighbourhood insulting and ironic.”



More than 850 people have backed a petition aimed at persuading the council to overturn its decision. The Methodist church is likely to appeal.



Schmalz, who was keen to have a cast of the sculpture displayed in central London, was baffled by the decision, said Atkins. “He’s a very gracious man but he said he’d never had any problem like this with ‘Homeless Jesus’ anywhere else.”



The artist, who could not be reached for comment, has said his sculpture was inspired by the sight of a homeless man in Toronto and reflected biblical verses about compassion towards those on the margins.



Westminster has the highest population of homeless people in the UK; it had five times more rough sleepers than any other borough in 2014. The council has been accused of “social cleansing” over a programme to relocate homeless families to outer London boroughs.

A Westminster city council spokesperson said: “We welcome public art and sculptures in Westminster and there is no objection whatsoever to the sculpture being located within the Methodist Central Hall itself.



“However, there are traditionally a large number of applications for monuments and memorials in Parliament Square and the surrounding area and it reached saturation point some years ago when the council introduced a policy of no further statues being allowed in this area. The council feels that in respect of this application an exception is not warranted.”



Atkins said the Methodist church had a strong tradition of “standing with the underdogs … we have fought for fairness and equality, and we have a sense of responsibility towards those on the margins of society. It’s in our DNA”.

