A statue of pioneering suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst has been upgraded to Grade II* listed status, giving it further protection from being moved or destroyed after a long campaign from feminists.

Plans earlier this year to move the figure from its position overlooking Parliament to a private univeristy sparked condemnation from women’s groups and were dubbed “an act of vandalism against women’s history” by Caroline Criado Perez, who led the successful campaign for the statue to Millicent Fawcett which was unveiled in Parliament Square this April.

The statue, unveiled on March 30 1930 by then-prime minister Stanley Baldwin, has been upgraded from Grade II to Grade II* status by Historic England. This gives the Westminster statue greater protection from being altered, relocated or demolished.

It was moved to its current position overlooking Parliament and was adapted to include a bronze profile of her daughter Christabel, also an active Suffragette, in 1959, and an inscription also commemorates the many other members of the WSPU.

The statue has had Grade II listed status since 1970.

The change marks the centenery of women over the age of 30 being granted the right to vote in 1918 following the passing of the Representation of the People Act.

Criado Perez told The Telegraph: "Earlier this year, Emmeline Pankhurst’s statue was under threat of being hidden away in the grounds of a little visited private university, miles from Parliament where she belongs.