What has been your biggest disappointment?

375 answers answered between 1991 and 2026 one of 25 in The Q&A

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The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.

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On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Read by field Everyone Science and medicine 2 Arts and letters 314 Politics and public life 25 Business and finance 11 Technology 1 Sport 21

Read by age Any age Before thirty 16 In their thirties 58 In their forties 82 In their fifties 81 In their sixties 73 Seventy and beyond 54

Order Earliest first Most recent Surprise me

Ed Balls British broadcaster and politician

That my competitive pole vault career ended at the age of 15.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 November 2008 source ↗

Zoë Heller English journalist and novelist

Failing CSE Physics. Twice.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 November 2008 source ↗

Richard Hammond English journalist, television presenter, and author

Failing my driving test first time; that was a disappointment on a geological scale.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 January 2009 source ↗

Jacqui Smith British politician

Not getting a part in the school play.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 February 2009 source ↗

Clare Balding English broadcaster, journalist, TV presenter and author

My A-level grades – but I got over it.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 January 2011 source ↗

Sadiq Khan Mayor of London since 2016

Labour losing the 2015 election: we weren’t able to help the people who needed us most.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 September 2016 source ↗

Forest Green Rovers, my football team, getting relegated.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 December 2025 source ↗

Not being able to start my own company