Gareth Southgate, Danny Dyer and Nicki Minaj among rejected nominees for new £50 note

The Bank of England announced last November that the new plastic £50 note will feature a prominent British scientist, and the public were asked for nominations.

At the end of last year the Bank published a list of 991 eligible nominations for the new note, including physicist Stephen Hawking and Margaret Thatcher, who was a chemist before she became Prime Minister. The Bank is now making its final decision about who will be on the new note. 

But MoneySavingExpert has now obtained a list of over 2,000 other names which were put forward in the first week of the consultation before being judged ineligible. As well as the four listed above, rejected names included fictional characters such as Beaker from the Muppets, Postman Pat, Darth Vader and Garfield.

Also suggested were dozens of politicians including Nigel Farage and Nicola Sturgeon, a handful of monarchs such as Henry VIII and Mary I, and one person who nominated themself, before helpfully clarifying this by adding "(me)" after their nomination.

For more info on the new note, see our New £50 to be launched MSE News story.  

Why can't Gareth Southgate be on the new £50 note?

The Bank of England says a nominee may have been ruled out for a number of reasons. These include if the person:

• is still living

• is fictional

• is not active in the field of science, including engineering and technology

• has not conducted a significant portion of their work within the UK

Which other nominees were rejected?

The list of rejected nominees includes sports stars, musicians, actors, actresses and fictional characters. Here's a selection of some we haven't mentioned yet:

• Footballers – Alan Shearer, Eric Dier, Harry Maguire, Frank Lampard and Shaun Goater

• Musicians – Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, Amy Winehouse and Gene Simmons

• Actors, actresses and TV personalities – Ainsley Harriott, Rachel Riley, Rebecca Frith and David Attenborough

• Fictional characters – Doctor Who, Batman, Robin Hood and 'Paul' (no further detail was given, but we're assuming this was the alien from the film of the same name)

Who WILL be on the new £50 note?

The nomination process for the new note ran until 14 December, and a full list of eligible nominations is available on the Bank of England website.

The Bank is now running focus groups to "decide which nominees might resonate strongly with people, and which might cause concern". A committee will then draw up a final shortlist and the ultimate decision will be made by the Bank's governor, Mark Carney, with the decision announced in the summer. 

A release date for the new note hasn't yet been announced.