Winston Churchill to appear on new £5 banknote

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sir Winston Churchill will appear on the next Bank of England banknote, joining a select list of "eminent British personalities" including Florence Nightingale and William Shakespeare, The Guardian reported.

The wartime leader's face and famous "blood, toil, tears and sweat" quote on £5 notes will be a lasting legacy for departing Bank governor Sir Mervyn King, who made the final decision on Churchill.

Announcing the choice at Churchill's former home, Chartwell, King suggested £5 notes may even become known as "Winstons".

"It seems entirely appropriate to put Sir Winston on what is probably our most popular note," he said.

"Our banknotes acknowledge the life and work of great Britons. Sir Winston Churchill was a truly great British leader, orator and writer. Above that, he remains a hero of the entire free world. His energy, courage, eloquence, wit and public service are an inspiration to us all."

Churchill's portrait from a photograph taken in 1941 will probably appear on £5 notes from 2016 although plans have yet to be finalized, the Bank said. If it is indeed the £5 note he appears on, he will replace social reformer Elizabeth Fry and there will no longer be any female figures celebrated on the back of British banknotes.

Churchill, the first statesman to feature, will be pictured alongside a view of Westminster with parliament's clock showing 3 o'clock – the approximate time on 13 May 1940 when Churchill declared in a speech: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

The Bank has pictured British personalities on the back of its notes since 1970 and the previous 15 eminent figures chosen have included the composer Sir Edward Elgar, scientist Michael Faraday and writer Charles Dickens. Only two, Fry and Nightingale, have been women.

Members of the public can put forward suggestions, although the Bank will only consider figures who have made an "indisputable contribution to their particular field of work". It considers the list of public suggestions when picking a new picture but the governor of the Bank has the final decision.