Margaret Thatcher is eligible to be "scientist" on a new £ 50 note | Business

Margaret Thatcher has been included on the Bank of England's list of candidates that could feature on the new £ 50 note, which will celebrate the UK's contribution to the field of science.

In its public search for names on the polymer banknote, the bank said it received a total of 174,112 applications, and the former prime minister is on the list of some 800 eligible names released on Monday.

The late Baroness Thatcher was probably included in the field of scientists because of her early days as a researcher in chemistry, including a period of work for the food company J Lyons on ice emulsifiers.

This also comes after a campaign from the right blog, Guido Fawkes, aiming to "place Maggie on the £ 50", which was launched before the bank said it was looking for a character from the scientific field.

Mark Carney, governor of the bank, said this month that the £ 50 note's choice would be limited to the UK's contribution to science, prompting speculation about Ada Lovelace's choice, Alan Turing or Stephen Hawking.

"There are a multitude of individuals whose work has shaped our way of thinking the world and who continues to inspire people today," he said at the time .

In addition to Thatcher, the list of names published by the Bank contains other unusual items. Comedian Will Hay, who was a successful amateur astronomer, did not entertain the audience with classics such as Oh! Porter is on the list, as is Roger Bannister, the first runner to reach the mile in four minutes, given his later career in medicine. He died in March.

The Bank stated that the first step candidates on the list were simply considered eligible: they were real, deceased, and had one way or another contributed to British science. He added that the names had not yet been examined by his advisory committee on the character of the bank notes.

About Thatcher, a spokeswoman for the bank said, "She had a degree in chemistry, [and] then worked as a chemistry researcher, particularly in the research team that contributed to the invention of soft ice cream scoop.