Bank considers ethnic minority £50 but won’t alter shortlist

MARK CARNEY, the Bank of England Governor, has said a diversity candidate to be pictured on the £50 note would be considered after pressure from campaigners.

In a letter to those pushing for the first black or ethnic minority public figure to be used, he highlighted the possibility of the pioneering nurse Mary Seacole. Campaigners have pushed for the Bank to put the first black or ethnic minority person on a banknote – and fear the move to a cashless society may mean the new £50 note will be the last.

More than 100 cross-party MPS, Lords and ministers signed an open letter, organised by Helen Grant, the Tory MP, urging the Bank to choose an ethnic minority subject.

After Robert Jenrick, the exchequer secretary to the Treasury, told The Sunday Telegraph he hoped for an ethnic minority choice, Mr Carney responded, mentioning the possibility of Seacole, who nursed troops in the Crimea, featuring, but said that the Bank would not change its shortlist, predominantly filled by white, male scientists.

Zehra Zaidi, who is leading the Banknotes of Colour campaign, said: “The £50 note is the last in the current series of banknotes to change from paper to polymer.

“After the 2013 campaign for gender representation that culminated in the Jane Austen £10 polymer note, our campaign hoped that the Bank of England would be more receptive to arguments around ethnic minority representation. It has simply not taken our submissions on board.”