‘What’s the worst county in the UK?’ – 23 opinions that will fill you with territorial rage

If you’re British, you’ll be well aware of and (whisper it) a bit bored by the centuries old beef that exists between Yorkshire and Lancashire.

So much so, in fact, that you might want to get in on the act yourself and slag off a different county, whether that’s the one you reside in, or another that you’ve taken against for some reason.

They’ve been discussing this on the AskUK subreddit after user catjellycat asked ‘What is the worst county in the UK?’ and followed up with a comprehensive explanation of the one they dislike the most…

‘I would like to put a shout in for Kent.

‘Pros:

‘(1) was fairly historically significant so it’s got some nice historical places to see (although con: the more recent historical bits e.g. places the Victorians liked have gone to shit)

‘(2) has a coastline (although con: it’s quite shit)

‘Cons

‘(1) like your local highstreet died with the nearby mall opening, so Kent suffers terribly by being so close to London. The wage difference is huge meaning that large swathes of Kent are ghost towns of a weekday. This money isn’t then making its way back into the local community tho as usually it’s spent on either the commute or moving somewhere with a shorter commute

‘(2) because of this, the nice bits are mega expensive (London prices really) meaning that the poor bits are hugely poor. But are dismissed because it’s southern and Kent and therefore, must be rich. Visit Gillingham or Chatham and get back to me on that.

‘(3) this snobbery exist in-county too with lots of people thinking they’re something special and being a very particular kind of new money twat

‘(4) to get pretty much anywhere else in the county means going around or through London adding hours to your journey

‘(5) no real wilderness. The Garden of England is a lot of fields.

And this kicked off an avalanche of opinions on the most rubbish place to live in the UK.

1.

‘Rutland purely because of the pointlessness. What does it have? A single town and a big pond. Just give it to Leicestershire and be done with it.’
–PurahsHero

2.

‘Rutland isn’t a real county, it’s just three former RAF bases in a trench coat.’
–dbltax

3.

‘West Midlands. Reasons: Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton.’
–Derfel60

4.

‘It’s Lincolnshire, no one ever thinks about Lincolnshire, most Brits doesn’t know it exists. Lincoln is a treasure though, it’s often missed by people because it’s hidden by the ring of shite with Boston, Doncaster, Gainsborough, Grimsby, Grantham and Scunthorpe.’
–sillysimon92

5.

‘I have worked extensively across all of the UK and Bedfordshire is a pretty ‘nowhere’ county. Even UK counties that have parts that are exceptionally shit often have redeeming features. Bedfordshire is mostly just flat featureless intensive farmland, dull London commuter towns and bleak new towns, plus the festering undercarriage that is Luton. Even the villages are underwhelming by home counties standards.’
–Global_Geologist8822

6.

‘I’ve always thought of Northamptonshire as the most ‘meh’ county. Like are people proud to be from what is essentially a lay-by to the M1?’
–Jaded-Initiative5003

7.

‘Can anybody vouch for Clackmannanshire near Stirling? It’s the smallest UK county and I feel like maybe it’s just not pulling its weight.’
–ClayDenton

8.

‘We just moved from Kent to Cambridgeshire and it’s made us very happy. Kent was becoming angry and overcrowded everywhere, sometimes taking a trip on the M20 or the local A20 could ruin our day, when the tunnel or ports were clogged. (where we live now we have the A1 and M11 but we rarely have to use them, I know they have their issues too).

‘Plus we are mortgage free and our garden overlooks fields with beautiful views. We couldn’t have afforded that down south. Pros and cons for both I’m sure but we felt it was right for us.’
–tigbird007

9.

‘Berkshire. It contains Slough. No positive can outweigh that.’
–Warriorcatv2

10.

‘They got a raw deal when the boundaries changed in 1974. Getting Slough from Buckinghamshire and losing the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. I think most of Berkshire is pretty pleasant.’
–ignatiusjreillyXM

11.

‘Suffolk. Sincerely, a Norfolk lass.’
–CrystalKirlia