Bank dropped Churchill after being told he was ‘elitist’
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2026 10:31 pm
Historical figures such as Turing and Austen replaced on notes after research concludes they are ‘contentious and divisive’
The Bank of England axed historical figures such as Winston Churchill from banknotes after being told they were “elitist and divisive”, The Telegraph can reveal.
Research commissioned by the Bank concluded that figures such as Churchill, Alan Turing and Jane Austen were “contentious and not representative of the UK’s cultural and natural diversity”.
Officials were advised to replace portraits with images of nature on banknotes because historical figures represented “a backward-looking vision of the UK that carries too great a risk of division and controversy”.
The October 2025 report by Savanta, a market research consultancy, was delivered months before the Bank announced it would replace historical figures with wildlife on the next set of banknotes after featuring notable people alongside the monarch for more than five decades.
The Bank has argued that the switch is necessary to keep ahead of fraudsters who are growing more adept at replicating faces.
Writing in The Telegraph earlier this week, Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, said: “The Bank’s foremost objective is the security of our banknotes, which includes tackling the threat from counterfeiting.”
However, the Savanta research, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, will raise questions about whether the decision was also motivated by concerns that featuring Britain’s former wartime prime minister and other national heroes would upset some sections of the public.
The Bank insisted that its decision to drop historical figures was not motivated by the Savanta research but driven by an earlier poll that found a majority of the public wanted to see nature on banknotes.
However, the revelation of the recommendations made to the Bank has prompted calls for a rethink of its decision.
Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman, said the central bank “should stop wasting time and money on this”.
Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired British Army officer, said: “Without great and courageous figures like Churchill and Turing, we may have swastikas on our banknotes today.
“We owe them so much and it is right that we should be reminded of our debt to them daily on our banknotes.”
In one focus group, a member of the public described Turing, the World War Two codebreaker and mathematician, as “imperialistic”.
The participant said: “It does kind of still feel a little bit imperialistic ... Even Alan Turing, who was obviously a famous scientist, is within the context of winning the Second World War.
“It does feel like there is that kind of boomer, imperialistic, ‘we’re the ones who won the Second World War and saved the world’ feeling to the [bank]notes.”
While Churchill was not specifically named, the research prepared for Bank of England staff warned that most of the 119 participants in Savanta’s focus groups felt that featuring historical figures on banknotes was “potentially divisive, elitist and disconnected from their own experiences”.
Researchers said: “Many participants – especially younger ones – questioned the relevance of current figures, suggesting the theme feels outdated. There was a clear desire for banknote imagery to evolve and better reflect modern Britain by being more inclusive.”
The Bank of England was advised to move to images of nature after Savanta warned that scenes of landmarks and historical architecture were potentially also too controversial. Georgian and Victorian-era buildings were labelled as higher risk “due to potential links to colonialism/slavery”.
One focus group participant from Northern Ireland said: “There are definitely buildings in Britain that have been erected on the back of slave trade money and that might not go down well.”
Even some images of nature were deemed to be too controversial. The Bank was advised to avoid picturing the White Cliffs of Dover “due to its association with the UK border”.
One focus group participant said the cliffs “could be seen by some people to be a political statement, particularly at the moment around immigration and small boats”.
London landmarks and religious buildings were also deemed unsafe options by Savanta.
The market research firm urged the central bank to frame “any move away from historical figures as a positive evolution that enhances banknotes, rather than a ‘censorship’ or ‘cancellation’ of history”.
