Around 30,000 nominations were made for the portrait on the Bank of England’s new £20 note during a two-month public consultation period that ended yesterday.

A shortlist will now be drawn up by the Bank’s Banknote Character Advisory Committee before governor Mark Carney makes the final decision as to who will feature on the new note, due to be introduced into circulation in the next three to five years.

The banknote is intended to “celebrate Britain’s achievements in the visual arts”, so the nominees are all from “within the field of visual arts and have shaped British thought, innovation, leadership, values and society” in some way.

Comic actor Charlie Chaplin, architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, fashion designer Alexander McQueen, author Beatrix Potter and painters John Constable and JMW Turner have been submitted for consideration.

The winning celebrity — who must no longer be alive — replaces economist Adam Smith and will be revealed in Spring 2016.

Victoria Cleland, chief cashier and director of notes at the Bank of England, said: “I am delighted with the number of nominations we have received, and appreciative of the public’s engagement in this new initiative.

“The fact that so many visual artists have been put forward underlines the extent of British achievement in the visual arts and reinforces why this field deserves to be recognised on the next £20 note.”