Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet was an English merchant and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1701 and 1733. He also served as the governor of the Bank of England and was Lord Mayor of London in 1711.

The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming their successor. The governor of the Bank of England is also chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee, with a major role in guiding national economic and monetary policy, and is therefore one of the most important public officials in the United Kingdom.