Mark Carney to Replace Darwin with Austen on 10-pound Note

Carney’s decision comes after the only woman on British currency was replaced with a man

By: Konstantine Roccas, Staff Writer

The father of evolution wasn’t defeated by creationism, but with feminism.

In one of his first major moves as Governor of the Bank of England, former Canadian Bank head Mark Carney – who helped steer Canada through the recent economic crisis –  has decided to replace Charles Darwin with Jane Austen as the face of the 10-pound note.

The move comes after a recent controversy when Elizabeth Frye was replaced with Sir Winston Churchill on the five-pound note. The move enraged feminists throughout the United Kingdom, as this left the country without any female on their bank notes aside from the Queen. This resulted in a petition and fundraising campaign, headed by university student Caroline Criado-Perez, which collected more than 35,000 signatures.

In response to the move by Mr. Carney, Criado-Perez stated that, “This is a brilliant day for women and a fantastic one for people power,” and added that, “there is no question that when Carney came in things began to change.”

[pullquote]”This is a brilliant day for women and a fantastic one for people power.”[/pullquote]

The move was also hailed by the Labour Party’s Stella Creasy, who had helped organized a campaign of MP’s to get Austen on a bank note.

The online reaction to the move is a bit more divisive, with some calling the move ‘reverse sexism.’ Some are even arguing  that it should not be about sex but rather who has done something more remarkable for their country.

Regardless of intent, Mark Carney and his family have started off their British career with a bang. In addition to this controversial move, Carney has also been credited for raising the FTSE 100 by three per cent in a single day, while his wife has made an appearance in the British tabloids for being caught blogging about her haterd of individual tea bags.

Konstantine Roccas is an observer of local and international affairs and governance, but also writes about anything else that piques his ire. He enjoys a half kilo of Greek yogurt daily. He writes for the Arbitrage Magazine. More of his work can be found at myriadtruths.blogspot.ca and he can be followed on Twitter @KosteeRoccas.