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Topics: Politics, UK News, Money, Cost of Living
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Politics, UK News, Money, Cost of Living
The Bank of England has revealed its retiring its tradition of featuring historical figures on the back of banknotes which means waving goodbye to Winston Churchill.
A 50-year-long tradition has seen the back of banknotes feature famous faces from British history.
On the back of your fiver, tenner or twenty - if you should be so lucky in this cost of living crisis - you'll be able to spot portraits of notable historical figures such as Jane Austen to Alan Turing and former prime minister Sir Winston Churchill too.
However, from March 2026, the Bank of England has revealed it's set to start phasing out the use of people on the back of its money.
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And some people aren't happy.
One Twitter user said: "Now removing history on our money! When will this woke BS stop."
"Let’s just wipe out all of our history so Everyone forgets !!!!" another added.
A third wrote: "Sorry? We’re going to replace our greatest ever Briton, the man who saved us from the Nazis, with a bloody hedgehog? This is ridiculous."
Although others voiced being in favour of the move.
Another user called it a 'good decision', accusing Churchill of having committed 'horrendous crimes' in his lifetime.
Indeed, despite his leadership being praised for maintaining morale in World War Two and leading the country to victory over Nazi Germany, Churchill remains an intensely contentious figure due to his views on race, his advocacy of using chemical weapons, attitudes towards other religions, and treatment of strikers, among other issues.
As director of the Churchill Archives Centre, Allen Packwood, told the BBC: "He is this incredibly complex, contradictory and larger-than-life human being and he wrestled with these contradictions during his lifetime."
"Symbols on money reveal what a nation chooses to remember," a fourth commented.
And a final simply wrote: "Since people cant/refuse to read, this is a direct result of asking people what they want and listening to the response. It's not that deep."
The Bank of England held a consultation over what theme should be featured on the notes.
They asked members of the public what they wanted to see on the back of bank notes and 44,000 responses were recorded.
The consultation revealed 19 percent want to see noteworthy milestones, 23 percent voted for innovation, 30 percent arts, culture and sports, 38 percent notable historical figures and 56 percent for architecture and landmarks.
The resounding 60 percent of the votes? Well, for wildlife of course.
A second consultation is also expected to be held this summer to consolidate specific wildlife to feature.
Chief cashier at the Bank of England, Victoria Cleland, told ITV News the bank is excited to 'showcase the UK’s rich and varied wildlife on the next series of banknotes'.
"I look forward to hearing about the public’s favourite wildlife during our forthcoming summer consultation."
So instead of Churchill and Austen, you may end up spotting hedgehogs and butterflies on the back of your notes.
Although, the new banknotes will reportedly likely take several years to be issued.
Those sporting a portrait of the monarch are also expected to reign on - not even the public's love of hedgehogs or rural landscapes able to dethrone them.