Banksy has confirmed that a large new sculpture that appeared in Waterloo Place, central London, is his work. The piece shows a suited figure striding off a plinth while holding a flag that obscures his own face, widely read as a jab at nationalist politicians who cannot see past their own symbolism.

The location is deliberate: Waterloo Place was designed in the 1800s to glorify British imperialism and military power, and the new work sits alongside statues of Edward VII, Florence Nightingale, and the Crimean War Memorial. Banksy’s only comment on the choice of spot was characteristically dry, noting that there was “a bit of a gap.”

The statue was put in place in the early hours of Wednesday and confirmed by the artist on Instagram the following afternoon. Crowds have been growing around it since, and Westminster City Council, rather than moving to remove it, said it would remain accessible to the public, calling it a welcome addition to the city’s public art scene.

A commentator on a BBC podcast about Banksy described the work as a pointed portrait of a self-important man in power on the verge of stepping into thin air, adding that the positioning in front of the Athenaeum Club’s gilded statue of Athena made it particularly striking.

It is the latest in a busy stretch of London works for the artist, following murals in Bayswater and on the Royal Courts of Justice last year, and an animal-themed trail across the capital in 2024.