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LONDON - As the new Bank of England 20-pound note makes its debut, featuring economist Adam Smith, a survey suggests Britons want better-known and more modern characters on their money.
World War Two leader Winston Churchill topped the Virgin Money survey with 52 per cent of the vote.
He beat other well-known names including physicist Stephen Hawking (8 per cent), Beatle John Lennon (7 per cent) and comedian Spike Milligan (7 per cent).
Tony Blair and his successor-in-waiting, Chancellor Gordon Brown, scraped in at the bottom of the list, taking 0.9 per cent and 0.6 per cent of the vote respectively.
Only Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty kept them off the bottom of the table.
Among the women, suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst finished just ahead of Princess Diana, taking 25.9 per cent of the vote compared to 23 per cent.
Romantic author Jane Austen (12 per cent), Margaret Thatcher (11 per cent) and Beatrix Potter (9 per cent) also scored highly.
Prince William's girlfriend and possible future queen, Kate Middleton, secured only 0.2 per cent of the vote.
She was marginally less popular than Victoria Beckham (0.6 per cent), Big Brother loudmouth Jade Goody (0.9 per cent) and glamour model Keeley Hazell.
Three-quarters of Britons have no idea who Adam Smith was, according to the poll.
One in 10 believed Smith, the "father of economics", was a politician and 15 per cent thought he was an artist.
Jason Wyer-Smith, a spokesman for Virgin Money, said: "Brits work hard enough to earn their money, so perhaps we should all have more of a say on whose faces we see when we spend it."
The survey of 1267 adults was undertaken by independent market research organisation tickbox.
- REUTERS
