Lloyds tipped to name Lord Blackwell as chairman Scottish Widows chair Lord Blackwell has been tipped as the next chairman of the life and pensions firm's state-backed owner, Lloyds Banking Group. The former adviser to prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major is expected to replace outgoing chairman Sir Win Bischoff early next year. Sources said an announcement was expected shortly, pending regulatory approval, but Lloyds, which is 33 per cent owned by the taxpayer, declined to comment. Blackwell served as a Downing Street adviser under Thatcher in the 1980s and headed the Number 10 policy unit in the Major government from 1995 to 1997. He was appointed a life peer in 1997. He has served on the Lloyds board since June last year, and became Scottish Widows chairman in September 2012. Lloyds is headed by former Santander UK boss Antonio Horta-Osorio, and today the bank said another former Santander director, Juan Colombas, has been appointed as an executive director with immediate effect. Colombas joined the bank as chief risk officer in 2011.