The act was introduced by Liberal politician Sir John Lubbock.

[3][4] Lubbock argued that the act was passed with relative ease because of the naming as a 'bank' holiday, with those who might have opposed it thinking it only applied to banks.

[5] In 1964, an experimental move to the end of August was announced by the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development, Edward Heath,[6] taking effect for two years from 1965,[7] responding to pressure from the holiday industry to extend the season.

[10] The rule seems to have been to select the weekend of the last Saturday in August, so that in 1968[11] and 1969[12] Bank Holiday Monday actually fell in September,[13] causing concern amongst some politicians.

[15] In 2014, a Private member's bill was introduced by Conservative MP Peter Bone to rename the holiday as Margaret Thatcher day, in honour of the late Prime Minister,[16] but the bill failed to progress past the first reading.