Blackwell is named as next Lloyds chairman

Lloyds Banking Group today confimed that Lord Blackwell will be its next chairman.

He will take over from Sir Win Bischoff on April 3.

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