Earlier this week, we had a question plaguing our minds here at Secret London. As a team of local Londoners and writers from around the world, who amongst us is actually a Londoner? What makes a Londoner? And how long would you have to live in the city to become a Londoner? Unable to reach a conclusion for ourselves, we turned to Instagram to ask our audience to weigh in on the topic.
We posed a simple question: “How Long Does It Take To Become A Londoner?”
And we’ve now tallied up the responses to come to a final conclusion – according to the Secret London audience.
How long does it take to become a Londoner?
According to a majority of Secret London readers (21.11%), you have to live in the city for at least 10 years before you’re a Londoner. However, a healthy percentage of people (16.58%) suggested that you only have to live here for 5 years to become a Londoner.
Answers ranged all across the spectrum, with some saying as little as 1 year, or ‘two winters’. At the other end of the spectrum, some people suggested that you’d have to live here for over 20 years before you’re a Londoner. In which case, I’ve got some serious ground to make up before I can call myself a Londoner!
It’s not a matter of time
But then, some of you had different ideas about what makes for a true Londoner. In your opinions, it’s now how long you’ve been here, but what you do, and how you act. To some, if you do any of the following, you’re a Londoner!
- If you cross the road safely without pressing the button
- When you’re irritated by slow walkers
- Standing on the left-hand side of the escalator
- When you start saying innit after every sentence
- When you know all its annoyances but still don’t want to live anywhere else
- When you start reminding everyone how London used to be
- When tourists start to annoy you
And to some, it’s not about what other people think, or about specific rules other people invent. “It’s in your heart. Time doesn’t matter…” Indeed, to some, there’s virtually no restriction on who can become a Londoner. “You can become a Londoner straight away it’s all about the attitude”.
Impossible to become a Londoner
And then there were the Negative Nancy’s who decided that it is impossible to become a Londoner. A surprising concept, given how delightfully multi-cultural London’s population is. I wonder how few people could call themselves Londoners if even those living here for decades can’t do so? (Needless to say, I do disagree…)
But nonetheless, some people insisted that you’re a Londoner from birth, and that “Your [sic] always be an adopted Londoner. I’m a Londoner”. Some people were quite insistent on this matter, too – “You MUST born and berd [sic], your whole life!! Only acceptable answer!!” One exclamation mark probably would have been enough…
In fact, 12.04% of respondents stated that to be a Londoner, you had to have been born here.
Although one commenter did say that “one life is not enough” to become a Londoner. I’m not quite sure how that works, though, outside of the concept of reincarnation…
Ultimately, though, there’s no real consensus. Perhaps it really is just a personal decision. You’re a Londoner when you start saying you’re a Londoner – when London feels like home. And that sounds pretty great to me.
If you’d like to have your say in future polls, be sure to follow us on Instagram, where we’ll be posing weekly questions to our audience.