Churchill on new £5 banknote

Executive Director, Banking & Chief Cashier Chris Salmon discusses why the Bank chose Winston Churchill.

He said: “The Bank is privileged to be able to celebrate the significant and enduring contribution Sir Winston Churchill made to the United Kingdom, and beyond.”

The Bank of England has announced plans to put Sir Winston Churchill on the next bank note.

Sir Winston will appear on the reverse of the new £5 note which is expected to start printing in 2016.

The note is expected to feature a portrait of Winston Churchill from a photograph taken in Ottawa by Yousuf Karsh in 1941.

A view of Westminster and the Elizabeth Tower from the South Bank looking across Westminster Bridge.

The image of the Elizabeth Tower with the hands of the Great Clock at 3 o’clock – the approximate time on 13 May 1940 when Sir Winston Churchill declared in a speech to the House of Commons: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” This declaration is quoted beneath the portrait.

A background image of the Nobel Prize medal which he was awarded in 1953 for literature, together with the wording of the prize citation.