Hard work or humour? Take the British values quiz

Three-quarters of the 6,000 adults surveyed believed British people shared a common set of values. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

You may think it’s a commitment to buying a round, the ability to chat at length about the weather, or making a proper cup of tea. But when it comes down to what makes people proud to be British, there is a consensus across all ages, demographics and political groups – and tea, pints and the weather don’t get a look-in.

Hard work, fair play and community are the values that voters – no matter which political party, age group, social class or region they come from – instinctively believe capture what it means to be British, according to a large-scale study of British values by Public First.

“When you talk to people across Britain it’s clear they have a shared set of values – if fairness is Britain’s moral compass, hard work is its character and community the thing that binds us,” said Olivia Walsham, the director of social policy at the policy and polling research firm.

But the research found that while most voters could agree on this core set of values, they were deeply pessimistic about finding common ground: more than 65% of respondents felt that in a post Brexit-era, Britain is more divided than ever.

1. What makes the most Brits feel proud to live in the UK today?

   1. Iconic products like tea and fish and chips

   2. The NHS

   3. British humour

   4. Our sporting achievements

2. Which quality do Brits most associate with British people?

   1. Polite

   2. Humorous

   3. Hard-working

   4. Reserved

3. How many Brits say that when they make themselves a cup of tea, they always ask if anyone else wants one?

   1. Around 4 in 10

   2. Around 6 in 10

   3. Around 8 in 10

4. Which country do Brits think has values most similar to our own?

   1. The United States

   2. Australia

   3. France

   4. Ireland

5. What proportion of Brits say they have a 'stiff upper lip'?

   1. Around a third

   2. Around a half

   3. Around two thirds

6. How many Brits get frustrated when someone tries to skip the queue?

   1. 55%

   2. 70%

   3. 85%

7. 'When at a pub, everyone should buy a round.' How many Brits agree?

   1. Around 45%

   2. Around 65%

   3. Around 85%

8. Which historic event do Brits most say exemplifies what it means to be British?

   1. The end of the Second World War

   2. The creation of the NHS

   3. The Battle of Hastings

   4. The Blitz

9. Who do Brits think plays the biggest role in upholding British values today?

   1. Politicians

   2. The Royal Family

   3. Families and parents

   4. Schools and teachers

10. 62% of people who volunteered in the last month feel optimistic about the future of their local area. What’s the figure for people who have never volunteered?

    1. 25%

    2. 40%

    3. 55%

Solutions

1:B - Half of us (50%) say the NHS and free healthcare make us proud to live in the UK, putting it top of the list, ahead of British humour (43%) and our history and heritage (42%). Tea and fish and chips? A quarter of us. Sporting achievements? Just one in five. It turns out nothing says Britain quite like free healthcare., 2:C - Forget the polite, tea-sipping stereotype. 'Hard-working' tops the list (27%), narrowly beating 'proud' (26%), with 'polite' and 'resilient' tied on 25%. 'Humorous' comes in at 22%, and only 16% of us think we’re 'reserved'. We see ourselves as a nation of grafters first., 3:C - A full 80% of us say we’d never brew up without offering a cuppa to whoever else is in the room, and 41% feel strongly about it. Just 5% admit to making a solo tea. If you’re one of them, we suggest you keep that to yourself., 4:B - Despite the 'special relationship', it’s Australia we see as our values twin (30%), followed by Ireland (25%) and Canada (24%). The United States picks up just 17%, although it is the top answer among 18 to 24 year olds. Notably, one in five Brits say no country on the list shares our values at all., 5:A - The famous British stiff upper lip may be wobbling. Just 35% of us claim to have one, while 30% say they don’t. And in perhaps the most British result in the entire poll, a further 30% couldn’t quite commit either way., 6:C - Some stereotypes are true. A whopping 85% of us get frustrated by queue-jumpers, with 42% feeling strongly about it. Only 4% of the country disagrees. Whatever else divides us, the sanctity of the queue is not up for debate., 7:A - Round-buying may be less sacred than you’d think. Only 46% of us believe everyone should get their round in, while 29% sit firmly on the fence and one in five actively disagree. Worth remembering the next time someone disappears to the loo when it’s their shout., 8:B - Nearly half of us (46%) chose the founding of the NHS in 1948 as the historic moment that best captures what it means to be British, ahead of the end of the Second World War (35%) and the British Empire (26%). Not a battle, not a king, but a health service., 9:C - We don’t look to Westminster to keep British values alive. Families and parents top the list (41%, level with 'individuals' themselves), ahead of the Royal Family (27%) and schools (22%). Politicians limp in on 18%. When it comes to British values, we think it’s on us, not them., 10:A - The gap is striking. People who had volunteered in the last month were more than twice as likely to feel optimistic about their local area (62%) than those who never had (25%). Community isn’t just something Brits say they value; it seems to be closely tied to how hopeful we feel about the future.

Scores

1. 9 and above.

   Fully paid-up member of the queue police. You ARE British values.

2. 7 and above.

   Impressively in touch. You know the national mood better than most politicians. Admittedly, a low bar.

3. 0 and above.

   Room for improvement. Have a word with yourself over a nice cup of tea (and yes, you have to offer everyone else one too).

4. 4 and above.

   Solidly British. You’d hold your own in a pub quiz, though you might dodge your round.

As Andy Burnham embarks on a summer “listening” tour of the UK and vows to “bring back hope”, the report suggests he has his work cut out, with fewer than one in three people feeling hopeful about the UK’s future, and seven in 10 feeling that things have become worse in the last five years.

But three-quarters of the public believed British people shared a common set of values – ranging from 70% of Reform UK voters to 83% of Labour-leaning voters.

In the study, which polled 6,000 adults and spoke to 300 people in focus groups, participants were asked to choose which values they thought were the most important – forcing them to make trade-offs.

“Hard-working” topped the list of qualities the public associated with British people, with 70% describing hard work as a British value. “Community” was also key, with 80% of people agreeing Britain was at its best when neighbours looked out for one another. Contributing to society boosted positive views: 62% of those who had volunteered in the last month said they were optimistic about their local area’s future, compared with 25% of those who had never volunteered.

Unsurprisingly for a population that can’t pass a queue without joining it, the notion of “fairness” or waiting one’s turn was the clearest shared value. Asked for examples of what described British life at its best, citizens referenced queueing, the NHS, fair play, taking turns, treating people equally, and the expectation that everyone should play by the rules.

The report also exposes deep-seated division, especially on immigration. Half of respondents said immigration had had a negative impact on the UK, while only one-fifth said a diversity of people and cultures made them proud to live in the UK.

Sunder Katwala, the director of British Future, said the report showed that British people had become not only more divided, but more “discomfited by how divided we feel”.

In a political landscape in which no political party was polling at higher than 25%, politicians were more likely to appeal to their base using divisive language, he added.

“Politics should be about articulating how people feel about the world, but also the peaceful resolution of differences,” Katwala said. “There are some glimmers of hope in this research, people are looking for a unifying sense of what we share, but actually appealing across the board to those people, it’s quite challenging.”

Burnham’s advisers may take heart in the report’s findings that messaging around shared values had been better received when framed positively, rather than through grievances, with “messages that talked about British values in affirmative terms consistently outperforming those that were rooted in a sense of loss”, according to the report.

“The values that unite us haven’t disappeared but no one is speaking to them,” said Walsham. “Politicians should start by recognising people’s everyday values – fairness, hard work and community. Then they might fan the flames of a hopeful, shared patriotism that the country so desperately needs.”

Trevor Pears, the chair of the Pears Foundation, which funded the report, said people were crying out for more initiatives like the annual Big Lunch and Big Help Out projects. “We need many more opportunities for people to come together, help one another and strengthen the communities they’re part of,” he said.