Former Epping MP Winston Churchill is to appear on £5 notes, the Bank of England announced today.

The country’s war leader, who was MP for Epping from 1924 to 1945 and for Woodford from 1945 to 1964, will appear on the bank notes from 2016.

His image will replace that of penal reformer Elizabeth Fry, meaning the Queen will be the only woman to appear on Bank of England notes.

In a new design, the portrait of Churchill taken in Ottawa by Yousuf Karsh in December 1942 will appear with a view of Westminster from the South Bank of the Thames and an image of the Nobel Prize for Literature, which he was awarded in 1953.

The hands of the Great Clock on Elizabeth Tower in Westminster, commonly known as Big Ben, are set at 3pm on the new design – the time on May 13 1940 when Churchill said in a speech to the House of Commons: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King said: “Our bank notes acknowledge the life and work of great Britons.

“Sir Winston Churchill was a truly great British leader, orator and writer.

“Above that, he remains a hero of the entire free world.

“His energy, courage, eloquence, wit and public service are an inspiration to us all. I am proud to announce that he will appear on our next bank note.”

The former Bank of England print works, not owned by the company De La Rue, is in Langston Road, Debden.