Mr Tickle, Laura Ashley, Alfred Hitchcock or Charlie Chaplin could appear on new £20 note
A Mr Men character has made it onto the list of 592 potential candidates has been drawn up to grace the front of the Bank of England’s new £20 note after inviting nominations from the public for British visual artists to take the place of economist Adam Smith, who features on the existing banknote.
No less than 29,701 suggestions flooded the Bank’s inbox ranging from the cartoon form of Mr Tickle to fashion bad boy Alexander McQueen and fellow designer Laura Ashley.
They are joined by silver screen icons such as Alfred Hitchcock, Laurence Olivier, Stanley Kubrick and Charlie Chaplin. Each will go head to head alongside artist Tony Hart and children’s author Rodger Hargreaves, famed for creating the Mr Men character series.
One notable absentee from the not-so short list is Premier League player Raheem Sterling, subject of a vigorous social media campaign, after judges ruled his profession fell ‘outside of the field of visual arts’.
A full list of all nominated figures is available from the Bank of England with the institution set to begin the shortlisting process in September.