What Region of England Matches Your Personality?

By: Zoe Samuel
Estimated Completion Time
7 min
What Region of England Matches Your Personality?
Image: TangMan Photography/Moment/GettyImages

About This Quiz

England was once many kingdoms, and some of the regions we refer to today were once these distinct kingdoms. Were one to travel every inch of England, one would quickly realize how diverse a land it is in terms of geography, climate, culture and history. In the age of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, ruling a kingdom was limited to where a king could travel in a year, issuing rulings, explaining the king's law, etc. Alfred the Great of Wessex, who unified England for the first time since Rome, instituted a system of burhs, or fortified city centers. This was a centralised regional government, meaning local tax collectors, law enforcers, and other civil servants could work out of the same office, effectively. It also forced many to move into cities, as these were the only legal places to conduct certain types of trade. This resulted in further cultural distinctions region to region, as each region's thegns would interpret the King's law, rather than require constant royal visits to handle every legal matter.

Of course, the influences on these regions were not just English. Much of the north was once part of a Norse settlement called The Danelaw. It was so loved by its settlers because it was similar to their (mostly) Danish homelands, but warmer and with better soil for farming. Add to this history many centuries of cultural evolution, immigration from all over the Empire and the evolution of the region's climates, and the England of today has numerous constituent parts, each with its own personality. Which one matches yours?

Q1 Major City
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You've been offered a well-paying job, but it requires that you live close by, in a major city. What's your counter-offer?
I'll work longer hours but work remotely.
I am willing to live on the outskirts of the city, but I'd offer a small concession not to have to live in the middle of the city.
I'd be willing to work for less money if I could work out of a satellite office.
Counter-offer? This sounds like my dream!

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Q2 Meaning of Life
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"Meaning of life" questions elicit different answers at different life stages, so here's a loaded question: What is most important to you?
Control over my personal space
My personal honour
My intellectual superiority
The vector of my career

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Q3 Moving House
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How do you feel about moving house?
It's something good because it means getting to decorate your home again.
It's not something I do, ever.
It's so awful, I just throw things out and buy them over again.
It is an unfortunate fact of life.

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Q4 Theme Party
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You're invited to a fancy dress party with a theme, but you don't feel comfortable wearing the theme yourself. What do you do?
I'll make an excuse and not show up.
I'll find a subversive spin on the theme that works for me.
I will wear one item of fancy dress, like a tricorn hat, but flout all other aspects of the dress code.
I'll defiantly wear something completely inappropriate to the theme.

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Q5 Brexit
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What do you think is the best possible benefit of Brexit?
Not having to talk about Brexit anymore
The UK becomes better at sustaining itself.
Everyone deciding to rejoin the EU
Turning the UK into a tax haven

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Q6 Role Model
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Who was your role model?
One of the philosophers I read when I was young
My gran
Stephen Hawking
William The Conqueror

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Q7 Party Game
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You are at a New Year's Eve party, and your host offers party games to kill time until the countdown. Which one do you want to play?
"Murder In The Dark"
"Consequences"
"Scrabble"
"The Box Game"

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Q8 Leave UK
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You've been offered you dream job, but you have to leave the UK. Where would you want to live?
The United States
Italy
Germany
Hong Kong

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Q9 Country House
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Staying over at the country house of a friend with several other guests for Christmas, you're asked what you'd like to do with them on Christmas Eve. What do you suggest?
Let's drink hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire.
Let's go sing some Christmas carols.
Let's have a rousing debate about whether or not God exists.
Let's watch TV as a group, and talk through everything we see.

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Q10 Morning
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Which of the following describes the side activity in which you engage while getting ready in the morning?
I listen to my favourite podcast or audiobook.
I listen to BBC radio, just like my grandfather did.
I practice mindfulness.
I put on the television and listen to a morning programme.

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Q11 Care
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How do you show you really care about someone?
I leave them alone.
I offer supporting words.
I try to solve problems for them.
I give them gifts.

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Q12 Day Off
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Imagine you have a few days off. What would you do to entertain yourself?
I'd schedule some time to maintain my boat/bicycle/etc. and then use it.
I would plan to take care of a household chore, like repainting.
I would read those books I've been saying I don't have the time to read.
I would plan several days of fun, organized exactly the way I plan a workday.

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Q13 Visit
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The average Briton doesn't visit many British cities, towns or villages in their lifetime. How many do you think you've visited?
As in, places I have spent time, not just passed through? 17 or so.
Not counting stops for petrol, 30
Upwards of 50, but only because I needed to visit many places for my research paper
Three or four at most

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Q14 Snowy Day
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What is your favourite way of spending a day off at home during a snowy winter's day?
Enjoying a warm drink by the window, looking out at all the cold
Meeting with my book club
Perusing vintage Peruvian furniture on online auctions
Plan my night out on the town!

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Q15 Endure
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Maturity is largely about learning to endure things. Which of the following bothers you the least?
The weather
Change to sentimental favourites
Hard work
Differences of opinion

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Q16 Holiday
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You've been offered a free holiday, but you have to pick which form it will take. For which of the following would you opt?
A very lux holiday trekking alone through Mongolia
A relaxing month in a charming little farmhouse in Normandy
Six months in student accommodations, studying at a prestigious university abroad
A week of all the best things in New York City

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Q17 Birthday
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How would you prefer to celebrate your birthday?
I would prefer to go away for a weekend with my partner.
I would like to go to a wonderful restaurant with family and friends.
I would ask my friends to contribute to my pet charity.
I would go out to see my favourite actors in a West End show.

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Q18 Married
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Good news! You've met the love of your life and you're getting married. Which style of wedding would make you happy?
I would rather we just visit the village registrar.
Something traditional, in a house of worship, but nothing too big
I would want to be married in accordance with the rigid traditions of the Jedi religion, and Keynesian economics.
I'd want something very non-traditional, in a beautiful place, with everyone I know, like getting married by Elvis in the ruins of an Egyptian temple.

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Q19 Scotland
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A new law was passed, and now you have to live in Scotland. Where would you rather live, and why?
The Outer Hebrides, because they are bleak and untouched.
Glasgow, because it is so authentically itself.
Edinburgh, because all the smart people live there, in my view.
The Highlands, because when you live there, you can always find people who want to visit you.

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Q20 Family
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Family can be a blessing or a bane. How close are you to your family?
Not at all close
We are very close.
I'm close to certain, acceptable members of my family, but not others.
I'm close to all the family members who live near enough to see them regularly.

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Q21 Difficult Client
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Your job requires you to deal with a difficult client who never seems satisfied. How do you handle them?
I work by the hour.
I ask about what they've previously said they want and confirm if they still want things that way.
I demonstrate how incompetent they are and logic them into seeing how I am the one qualified to decide how things should be.
I confidently explain to them that I am the expert and should be listened to.

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Q22 Brexit Scares
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What aspect of Brexit scares you the most?
The dissolution of the international order that works as a check on actors like Russia and North Korea.
The possibility of the breakup of the Union
We could run out of medicine!
The collapse of the pound scares me.

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Q23 Vision
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With which vision of England do you identify?
The Seven Kingdoms from "Game of Thrones"
RAF films
Ken Loach's early films
Richard Curtis's imaginary version of England

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Q24 Historical Period
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Leaving aside actually travelling in time and living in another era, what historical period of English history do you think is the most interesting?
The Dark Ages
The reign of Queen Elizabeth I
The Victorian Age
The 1960s

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Q25 The British Monarchy
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How would you finish the sentence "The British monarchy is ____________"?
A good way of separating the symbols of nationhood from the functionaries in government.
One of our proud traditions.
An outmoded and inherently unjust system, unless I get some letters after my name, in which case it is excellent.
A brilliant bit of branding.

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Q26 Would I Lie To You
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When you watch "Would I Lie To You?", how often does David Mitchell successfully deceive you?
He always fools me. His ability to tell jokes with a straight face makes his lies bulletproof.
Which one is David Mitchell?
Never. I've known him since he was a boy, and I know all of his "tells."
Most of the time. His facial hair makes reading his lies an impossible task.

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Q27 English History
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Every culture has a view on who the rebels from "Star Wars" represent. Who, in English history, do you think they represent?
The RAF during WW2
The army of Henry V
The Roundheads
New Labour, circa 1997

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Q28 Games
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What appeals to you about games in general?
The framework of the rules
The link between games today, tomorrow, and a thousand years from now
The mental challenge
The safe thrills

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Q29 Advice
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To whom do you turn when you need advice on a life choice?
My partner
My parents
My mentor
My best friend

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Q30 Guilt
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Obviously, everyone other than a certain MP from the 19th century feels guilt about the Empire, but if you had to name something you like that resulted from it, what would that be?
English as lingua franca
Chicken Tikka
Guilt about the Empire
The pluralism resulting from people coming to England from throughout the Empire

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You Got: