Mr Stewart, MP for Milton Keynes South, tried out the new security features and learned more about how businesses and the public can prepare for the new note, which is due to be issued on September 13.
The new Bank of England £5 note features former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and will be made of polymer, a thin flexible plastic.
The introduction of polymer banknotes allows for a new generation of security features which make it even harder to counterfeit. The note also remains in much better condition for longer and The New Fiver is expected to last at least 2.5 times longer than paper notes – around 5 years.
Paper £5 notes will be gradually withdrawn once the New Fiver enters circulation and will cease to be legal tender in May 2017.
A new polymer £10 note, featuring the novelist Jane Austen, will be issued in summer 2017 and a new polymer £20 note featuring the artist JMW Turner will enter circulation by 2020.
Readers can see the New Fiver online at www.thenewfiver.co.uk or at one of the Bank of England’s regional roadshow events around the UK.
