Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill will no longer feature on English banknotes. In his place: Wild animals.
All banknotes circulated by the Bank of England feature portraits of Queen Elizabeth II or King Charles III on their faces. On their backs, the current crop of banknotes features: Churchill, novelist Jane Austen, artist J.M.W. Turner, and mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing. Historical characters have appeared on English banknotes for more than 50 years, according to the BBC.
The next series of banknotes will feature images of native United Kingdom wildlife on the back, the Bank of England announced Wednesday.
“The key driver for introducing a new banknote series is always to increase counterfeit resilience, but it also provides an opportunity to celebrate different aspects of the UK,” said the Bank of England’s chief cashier, Victoria Cleland, according to the BBC. (RELATED: Britain Arrests Former Ambassador To US Peter Mandelson Amid Epstein Probe)
One suspects that the bank may have had another aim in mind: Erasing a quotidian reminder of Britain’s history as a largely white nation.
The BBC notes that there “has never been a historical figure who is black or from an ethnic minority background on the Bank’s notes,” a fact which may owe to Britain being 95.4% white as recently as 1981. The country remains about 81% white, according to government data collected in 2021.
A bad change made because of bogus concerns about “diversity”.
A Conservative government will bring back Churchill and our national heroes. pic.twitter.com/K2asRCCQ7n
— Neil O’Brien (@NeilDotObrien) March 11, 2026
That is to say, when one considers prominent British historical figures, the overwhelming majority of those figures are going to be white — a reality which rankles Britain’s shrillest residents.
A bill to “require the Bank of England to meet standards for the representation of ethnic minority persons on banknotes” made it to the House of Commons in 2019.
The Bank of England developed six criteria in July 2025 for “what would make a good theme” on the next series of banknotes. One criterion: That the theme “is not divisive[.]”
“The theme should not involve imagery that would reasonably be offensive to, or exclude, any groups.” (RELATED: Liberals, Muslims Teaming Up To Stifle Little Kids’ Joy In British Schools)
The bank claims that “Nature was the most popular theme in the July 2025 consultation with 60% of respondents selecting it as one of their preferred themes.” Notable Historical Figures came in third, at 38%.
I’m not entirely surprised by these results. Nature is an innocuous theme. If respondents are permitted to pick more than one theme, many will include the “safe” option among their selections. I wonder, too, how many respondents shared the Bank of England’s sensitivity concerns.
It says it all that Rachel Reeves is replacing Winston Churchill on our banknotes with a squirrel. pic.twitter.com/eaGp6pvJj6
— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) March 11, 2026
Nadeem Perera, a bird-watcher who sits on the bank’s panel of wildlife experts, argued that the “wildlife of the UK is not separate from our culture.”
“It sits in our football crests, our folklore, our coastlines and our childhoods. Giving it space on something as symbolic as our currency feels both overdue and significant.”
The Bank of England, and its consultants, have all the proper excuses for dispensing with historical figures. Their decision still seems a means of bulldozing the past to make way for a brave new future.
Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC
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