What was the depth of your Blue Monday?

Posted on January 21, 2025 by henry tapper


Thanks to my old chums at First Actuarial , reminding me that if you give your postcode to an actuary, they’ll nail you.

Basingstoke was my  office when I worked for First Actuarial. It’s a rough place and so is Tonbridge but I was wrong in listing them as the grimmest offices for actuaries to frequent. You don’t have to be an actuary to take the game – go on.

Can you match the life expectancy to the First Actuarial office?
The Health Foundation has published a map of life expectancy at birth by UK electoral constituency, based on its own analysis of Office for National Statistics data. Can you match each result to the correct First Actuarial office?
Life expectancy at birth

A. 79.21

B. 80.40

C. 80.61

D. 81.79

E. 82.78

F. 84.61
First Actuarial office

1. Basingstoke

2. Leeds

3. London

4. Manchester

5. Peterborough

6. Tonbridge

The answers
A. 79.21 – Leeds (Leeds Central and Headingly)

B. 80.40 – Manchester (Stretford and Urmston)

C. 80.61 – Peterborough (North West Cambridgeshire)

D. 81.79 – Basingstoke

E. 82.78 – Tonbridge

F. 84.61 – London (Cities of London and Westminster)
If you’re surprised by the London figure, note that this particular constituency has unusually high life expectancy for the capital city as a whole. The result may reflect the relative wealth of its inhabitants – life expectancy in the surrounding constituencies is more in line with our other office locations.

Find the life expectancy at birth for your constituency

Key points

  • People born in Winchester, the constituency with the highest life expectancy, have a life expectancy at birth of 85.3 years, whereas people born in Glasgow North East, the constituency with the lowest life expectancy, have a life expectancy of 74.2 years – a difference of 11.1 years.
  • On average, constituencies in London and the South East have the highest life expectancy at birth (82 years). Constituencies in Scotland have the lowest average life expectancy at birth (79 years).
  • There are large inequalities between neighbouring constituencies across the UK.
  • There is a gap in life expectancy at birth of 11.1 years between constituencies. The constituency with the highest life expectancy at birth is Winchester (85.3 years), followed by Richmond Park (84.6 years), and Cities of London and Westminster (84.6 years).

I live in the City of London, where there  is wealth but also an alarming increase in dangerous bicycling.

  • There is a gap in life expectancy at birth of 11.1 years between constituencies. The constituency with the highest life expectancy at birth is Winchester (85.3 years), followed by Richmond Park (84.6 years), and Cities of London and Westminster (84.6 years).
  • The constituency with the lowest life expectancy at birth is Glasgow North East (74.2 years), followed by Liverpool Riverside (75.0 years) and Glasgow East (75.5 years).
  • On average, constituencies in London and the South East have the highest life expectancy at birth (82 years). Constituencies in Scotland have the lowest average life expectancy at birth (79 years).
  • There are also large inequalities between neighbouring constituencies. For example, while Glasgow North East has the lowest life expectancy (74.2 years), neighbouring constituency Mid Dunbartonshire has a life expectancy of 82.6 years, a difference of 8.4 years.
  • Similarly, within London there is a difference of 5.2 years between constituencies with the highest and lowest life expectancy. While constituencies such as Kensington and Bayswater, and Hampstead and Highgate, have life expectancies over 84 years, nearby constituencies, such as Bethnal Green and Stepney, and Hackney South and Shoreditch, have life expectancies of just 79 years.

Yesterday was Blue Monday , a day when we – as a nation – despair of our lives. Having spent a bit of time in Winchester, I suspect the despair of life is measured by the depth of our home place’s blue.

My in laws who live in Winchester should cheer up!

About henry tapper

Founder of the Pension PlayPen,, partner of Stella, father of Olly . I am the Pension Plowman
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