Margaret Thatcher has been included on the Bank of England’s list of candidates who might be pictured on the new £50 note, which will celebrate the UK’s contribution to the field of science.

In its public search for people to feature on the polymer note, the bank said it had received 174,112 nominations and the the former prime minister was on the list of about 800 eligible names published on Monday.

The late Baroness Thatcher spent her early career as a research chemist, including a period working for the food company J Lyons on emulsifiers for ice-creams.