Surrey crowned winner in the battle of the home counties

Last week, we asked the good people of the South East to settle the question: which is the best home county of them all?

Contributors from all the shires presented their best arguments for their respective counties. The votes have been counted and a winner found.

Winning 27 per cent of the 6000 votes cast, Surrey is officially the best home county in the UK. Amassing more votes than Berkshire, Essex and both East and West Sussex combined, Surrey claimed its rightful place at the top of the table.

Hertfordshire, which placed a predictable second, got 16 per cent with a respectable 958 votes.

Down at the bottom of the table, barely-a-county East Sussex failed to break 250 votes, securing just 3 per cent in the hotly fought poll.

The result comes as no surprise to Surrey residents, who were sure that their home shire would prevail. Guildford resident Andy Bell told The Tab:”This poll confirms what we’ve always known about our glorious county. The likes of Herts, Bucks and Essex can simply not compete with the majesty of the Surrey Hills.”

The winning entry for Surrey can be found below:

When people think of a Home County, they’re thinking of Surrey. Majestic rolling hills, pleasant little villages, cobbled high streets with farmers’ markets. Sure, it may be a bit stuck up at times, and yeah, Staines is technically in Surrey – but nowhere’s perfect. As long as you stick to Guildford, Walton, Cobham or the villages you’ll have a great time, blissfully unaware of anyone who doesn’t own a horse or has never played a round of golf.

Compared to the other home counties, Surrey is the jewel in the crown. We don’t have Reading, we don’t have Luton. We have tiny villages like Abinger Hammer or Frimley Green where they still serve warm pints in dusty glasses and people play cricket on the green. Surrey summers are some of the best on earth – filled with gin, country walks and long boozy barbeques. But even the winters are perfect. There’s a reason they filmed The Holiday in Surrey – it looks like how the rest of the world feels at Christmas. Surrey is thatched roofs and roaring log fires, it’s glistening yellow fields and Golden Retrievers. It’s a perfectly placed perfect place between London and the sea. It’s classic, it’s traditional and It’s the only real home county left.