Lloyds confirms Lord Blackwell as next chairman

Lloyds Banking Group today confimed that Lord Blackwell will be its next chairman putting an end to weeks of speculation.

He will take over from Sir Win Bischoff who has chaired the bank since September 2009 on 3rd April next year.

Lloyds, which is 33% owned by the taxpayer, has been hunting for a new chairman since Bischoff announced his plan to stand down in June.

Blackwell, a former advisor to Sir John Major and a Tory peer and already chairman of Lloyds’ ooffshoot Scottish Widows, is seen as a particularly safe pair of hands as Chancellor George Osborne prepares to unload more of the Government’s shareholding.