Purcell, Elgar, (any in London?) Shakespeare, Chaucer, Queen Elizabeth I or II, Byron, Wordsworth. Not a lot around. What about Blake- a Londoner? Rudyard Kipling, nationalistic, the finest poet of his time, the most appropriate. Or..a dying Adm Villeneuve avec knives n' all?

Jeremy Allen, Turku, Finland

How about "George Orwell", he predicted the world we live in today?

Andrew T, England, UK,

A Plinth with a pigeon statue would be quite appropriate, after all, Trafalgar Square has never been the same without them!

Maureen McGill, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

No one person is the answer. Let's just keep the sculptures /statues coming. The publicity alone will ensure no shortage of contenders and a panel of experts [of which there is definitely no shortage] can pick what is to be displayed for say 6 months.
Much more interesting

g. burrill, keston, uk

Hugh Dowding.
Were it not for his intelligence and foresight, coupled with his determined resistance to Political interference from Churchill , there would now be neither Trafalgar Square nor a vacant plinth!

Roger Hatt, Bristol, United Kingdom

No person caused such an outpouring of public grief as did the late lamented Princess Diana, Who in Great Britain or in fact the world was as loved or missed as her surely if there is a Plinth to spare She should have it.

Peter K, Vancouver BC., Canada

I think it would be lovely to have a statue of PRINCESS DIANA. She was loved and touched the hearts of millions around the world. She would have made a beloved Queen. Also it would give the Royal family a chance to remember how they treated her every time they passed by.

Stone, Enger, Germany

Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst did more for the cause of British women and democracy than any man since the proposers of the Reform Acts. If it be objected that her statue already is in gardens by the Palace of Westmister, then the quieter suffragist Millicent Fawcett would serve instead .

Christopher Nutt, Cambridge, UK

Can't we all have 15 seconds each to stand up there and have our photos taken? I think we'd manage the whole population of London in uner 10 years.

Chris, London,

Is there in fact a statue of Jordan anywhere in the nation's capital?

David, Reading, UK

A statue depicting the three men who saved the City of London and indeed the UK from invasion during the Battle of Britain
- Dowding
- Park
- Leigh-Mallory

They compliment Nelson who in 1805 saved Britain from another invasion.

Bill, Stavanger, Norway

How about a "big" directional sign pointing the way to Heathrow airport and Dover ferry services.Just for us Brits by the way.

Kenneth O'Boyle, Perth, UK

I say we wait 20 years till QE2 closes her final chapter, and stick her up there. She'll pacify the women who want female representation in Trafalgar, and she's actually something for this country to be proud of.

And she can pull off the "riding a horse" look.

St. George is a pretty gd idea too, but I doubt there's much solid evidence of what he looked like...

Dean Rodrigues, Oxford, UK

Banksy with a large spray can & a mock wall. He's the only one doing something about intelligent the capital today!

kevin, Lincoln, UK

Why not have a statue of Generalisimo Francisco Franco y Bahamunde on the fourth plinth?

It might serve to remind the senior officers of our own armed forces that, with the will to act, the ravages of Socialism CAN be stopped.

Mac, Teignmouth, Devon,

Robert Mugabe ?

Norman Tomlinson, Lancaster, North England

Ken Livingstone with a big V sign aimed at the public.

David, Hampton,

The Dalai Llama

Jean Matthews, London , England

A statue of Bertrand Russell on the empty plinth would be a pacifist counterpoint to all the military men already commemorated there, and a poignant reminder of his and others' many demonstrations in the square for peace. Also of course he was a formidable mathematician and thinker.

Stepan, Glasgow, UK

Shakespeare.

Carol, London, UK

Without a doubt Enoch Powell.

Callan, Liverpool, England

Leave it empty.

Miland Joshi, Birmingham,

Somebody really English.

English that is.

That would really rile Red Ken.

The plaque should read "This is an Englishman"

Or "This is an Englishwoman"

As long as it pointed out that the person was/is English.

Stephen Gash, Carlisle, England

Well we ALL know that it would in fact be Muhammed if only you were 'allowed' by his peaceful followers to have an image of him.

As it is we'll probably just have a general proud Muslim warrior.
As you can be certain anything to British (let alone English) will ever be allowed.

Dave B, Stoke, UK

How about Osama Bin Laden? Doesn't seem too far fetched, seeing as how the country bends over backwards for terrorists.

Martin , London, United Kingdom

London is the capital of England so let's have a statue of England's patron saint St George!

Derek, Southampton, England

What about having a statute to the good old British Taxpayer on the fourth plinth. Taxed to within a milimetre of his life whether directly or by stealth, knowing that a fair proportion of said taxes will be squandered or misappropriated beyond belief. Also knowing that the Government need not and will not be asking for his opinion as to the future squandering of said taxes. For taxation above and beyond the call of DUTY I give you the British Taxpayer for the fourth plinth.

A Morrow, Bangor, UK

With the current disastrous state of Zimbabwe, which is now as accurately forecast by the excellent Ian Smith, former Prime Minister, who ran the country (as Rhodesia) so well for all its citizens, a statue of this great man should be on the plinth. Rhodesia then was very well administered and even when international sanctions were in place, no one starved or was robbed of their farm and he was well respected by all Rhodesian citizens of all colours, except those who wanted the whole cookie jar and murdered their way to the top.
But perhaps because Ian Smith was not an African terrorist leader, today he would not qualify? I, as many others who know the truth would advocate this man, the late, great Ian Smith

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

How about William, Duke of Normandy? The commemoration of his victory at the Battleof Hastings might compensate the feelings of our French friends who, when visiting the UK, have traditionally arrived by train at Waterloo Station and have then been taken to see Nelson's column - just a few minutes' walk away, of course - in Trafalgar Square...

Edmund Burke, Kingston upon Thames, England

It is reported that 21% of babies in Britain are born to foreign-born mothers; schools routinely have to cope with between 50 to 90 foreign languages spoken by their pupils; our political masters have practised a cynical policy of unfettered mass immigration; public services are overwhelmed by the calls made on them by uncounted immigrants; the wicked philosophy of multiculturalism has seen our once cohesive society reduced to a dysfunctional wreck; now is the time to honour Enoch Powell with his statue on the 4th plinth.

Robert Dewar, High Wycombe,

A statue of an anonymous EU bureaucrat would be appropriate.

Richard Caie, Aberdeen, Scotland

Maybe a statue of Emma, Lady Hamilton might be appropriate. Might make the naval gentleman further up a little happier than the pigeons make him.

Len, Western Australia,

The plinth should be kept empty. Then in our imagination we can put whom we want on it (including ourselves, if we are that way inclined) or indeed keep it empty as a protest against the vainglory of those who are up there on their plinths.

The real discussion is: what other plinths should be emptied?
Certainly, many of those so honoured would otherwise be completely forgotten, and in many cases deservedly so.

Naomi Wallace, Essex, UK

The empty plinth in the heart of London should be used to honour ordinary London families who faced and survived the Blitz with courage, fortitude and humour.

Make it a representational statue, please, one that equally ordinary people can recognise, understand and view with pride.

Peter Lloyd, BLACKER HILL, South Yorkshire

Oscar Wilde. Times have changed -- time to acknowledge his genius so that foreigners no longer can say "Is this how you treat your poets?"

peter, London, london , england

Tony Blair, with plenty of ripe tomato stalls.

Andrew Milner, Karuizawa, Japan Alps