Express & Star

Quiz: Test your memory of 2022 with this epic set of questions

2022 is now a memory and we're already at the first full weekend of 2023.

Published
Some of the biggest news stories of the year: England Women winning Euro 2022, the Queen's death and Liz Truss' short tenure as Prime Minister

We've put together a huge list of questions - 90 in total - to see how much you can remember from last year.

The questions are divided up into nine categories, so if there's one round you're not so strong on, chances are you'll do better in another.

The answers are at the bottom below the questions, but no peaking!

WEST MIDLANDS

1. Sir Gavin Williamson has been in the news this year, returning to the cabinet only to return to the backbenches. Which constituency does he represent?

2. Which author was inspired by the ancient woodland of Brocton Coppice on Cannock Chase?

3. Helen Morgan has enjoyed her first year as a Liberal Democrat MP after winning a by-election in North Shropshire. Who did she replace?

4. The Little Christmas Shop sells festive gifts all year round in which Severnside village?

5. Which West Midlands comedian appeared to shred £10,000 in a stunt to highlight human rights issues in Qatar?

6. Which Repair Shop star has made his home in Shropshire and set up a workshop in Wolverhampton?

7. Which veteran cyclist again raised money for Compton Care with his Round the Wrekin ride?

8. Which local England World Cup star is having a bridge named after him on the HS2 route in the West Midlands?

9. Resorts World Arena failed in its bid to host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Who will host it instead?

10. What colour was the Severn Valley Railway’s No 70 ‘Elizabeth II painted to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee?

POLITICS

1. How many days did Liz Truss spend as prime minister?

2. Where was Boris Johnson on holiday when Liz Truss resigned, prompting him to fly back to the UK, although he later decided against standing to regain the leadership?

3. Name the shadow transport secretary who was sacked by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

4. Who replaced Ian Blackford as SNP leader at Westminster?

5. How many fines were issued following the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Hillman investigation into the partygate lockdown breaches?

6. Which football club was at the centre of a row over Covid regulation in January as, while the front gates, car park and main office door are in England, the pitch is in Wales where new rules were in force to tackle the Omicron variant?

7. Which Conservative MP resigned after he watched pornography in Parliament?

8. What is the name of the Northern Ireland First Minister who resigned in February, causing the collapse of the Assembly?

9. How many education secretaries were there in the UK Government in 2022?

10. Former health secretary Matt Hancock appeared in I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2022, but which other reality show did he film during the year?

SHOWBIZ

1. Millie Bobbie Brown returned to screens as two of her popular characters on Netflix in 2022 - Enola Holmes was one, which was the other?

2. Which film earned the Best Picture Award at the 2022 Oscars?

3. Which massive hit became the first original song from a Disney film to reach number one in the UK singles chart in 2022?

4. Who won I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here in 2022?

5. Which former member of One Direction saw his album at the top of the UK chart for the most cumulative weeks in 2022?

6. Laura Kuenssberg left her role as the BBC’s political editor to present the Sunday morning politics show, but who replaced her?

7. The UK’s Sam Ryder finished runner-up at Eurovision 2022 - what was the name of his song?

8. Which Oscar-winning actress starred alongside her real life daughter in the Channel 4 drama I Am Ruth?

9. Sean Bean won the TV Bafta for best leading actor for which BBC programme?

10. Who was announced as the next host of Love Island, taking over from Laura Whitmore?

WHO SAID

1. When asked about Boris Johnson’s birthday gathering during the Covid-19 lockdown in June 2020, who said: “He, as far as I can see, he was, in a sense, ambushed with a cake”?

2. Which writer and comedian said: “I am very recognisable. This is not purely a function of fame. There are many people more famous than me who are less recognisable. It’s because my face is like a Groucho Marx novelty mask; the beard-nose-glasses classic combo makes it easy to map, and therefore notice”?

3. Who said: “I made a promise to Harry in the hospital that we would get him justice and a mother never breaks a promise to her son”?

4. Who said: “You’ve got to be polarising, because that means you’re saying something. Anything of any worth that means something ... many people are going to hate it and many are going to love it, because half the world’s clever, and half the world’s stupid”?

5. Which Government minister said: “Unfortunately we’ve got a busy adversary now in Putin, who has gone full tonto”?

6. Which Hollywood star said: “There is no part of me that thinks that’s the optimal way to handle feelings of disrespect or insults”?

7. Who said: “I’m humbled and blown away that five years of talking about poo can lead to a damehood!”?

8. Who, upon resigning, said: “Them’s the breaks”?

9. Who said of Queen Elizabeth II: “Her dedication and devotion as Sovereign never waivered, through times of change and progress, through times of joy and celebration, and through times of sadness and loss”?

10. About whom was Tory councillor Andy Drummond speaking when he said: “I’m looking forward to him eating a kangaroo’s penis. Quote me. You can quote me that”?

BIRTHS, DEATHS

AND MARRIAGES

1. Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 on September 8. For how many years had she reigned?

2. Which celebrity couple got married at the White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas in July, 18 years after they were first engaged?

3. Which singer welcomed her first baby with partner ASAP Rocky in May?

4. How old was Fleetwood Mac star Christine McVie when she died in November?

5. Nicola Peltz wore a gown by which designer brand for her wedding to Brooklyn Beckham in April?

6. Dame Olivia Newton-John, who died at the age of 73 in August, was born in which English city?

7. What is the name of Declan Donnelly’s baby son, born in July?

8. Actor Robbie Coltrane died aged 72 in October. Which character did he play in the Harry Potter films?

9. Which popstar married Sam Asghari at their home in Los Angeles in June?

10. Which Masked Singer winner gave birth to her second child in October?

WORLD

1. Anthony Albanese was elected as Australia’s prime minister in 2022, but who did he replace?

2. Name the Russian navy’s flagship that was sunk during the Ukraine invasion.

3. In June, Ketanji Brown Jackson became the latest member of which important US organisation?

4. Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency firm filed for bankruptcy in November. What is it called?

5. In May an outbreak of monkeypox began which caused concern around the world but by what name is the virus now known?

6. Protests erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of which country’s “morality police”?

7. The collapse of what sort of structure left at least 141 people dead in Gujarat, India?

8. Nasa launched its latest moon mission with which spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida?

9. In which month was former Japanese prime minister assassinated while giving a speech?

10. What was the name of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship which was discovered in the Weddell Sea?

ODDS

1. What went on display at Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Bodringallt in Pentre, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, after it was discovered under the floorboards of a school classroom?

2. Paul Bishop, from Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, was surprised to have what missing item returned to him, 11 years after it was lost during a drunken day out in Benidorm?

3. Which veteran rock star repaired potholes near his Essex home after complaining that no-one else could be “bothered to do it” and his Ferrari could not drive down the road?

4. Primary school teacher Aine Molloy, husband Jarlath and their three sons, Fionn, nine, Darragh, four, and nine-month-old Oisin, won what in a competition with Legoland Windsor?

5. How much 32-year-old Macallan single malt was in The Intrepid, the world’s largest bottle of whisky, which was sold by Edinburgh-based auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull for £1.1 million in May?

6. How many hot dogs - with buns - did Joey “Jaws” Chestnut gobble down in 10 minutes to win a 15th title at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog-eating contest in New York?

7. What is the nickname of British artist Sam Cox, who has covered every inch of his house in Tenterden, Kent, with his signature monochrome drawings?

8. BBC Studios said a rocket toy inspired by which animated children’s show travelled into space attached to a stratospheric balloon powered by hydrogen gas?

9. What unusual item linked to John Lennon prompted smiles and laughter when it went on show at the Liverpool Beatles Museum in December?

10. The Los Angeles county department of animal care and control granted a permit for a girl called Madeline to own what type of creature... if she can find one?

ROYAL

1. On what date was the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II held?

2. Which Oscar-nominated filmmaker directed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix docuseries which aired in December?

3. The King bestowed which new titles on William and Kate following the death of the late Queen?

4. Who was stripped of his honorary military roles in January amid the fallout of a civil sex case?

5. The late Queen delighted millions of viewers by appearing in a surprise comic sketch with which fictional character as part of the Platinum Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace in June?

6. Which member of the royal family celebrated her 40th birthday on January 9 2022?

7. At which London building did the late Queen lie in state following her death so members of the public could pay their respects ahead of her funeral?

8. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis started at which school near Ascot in Berkshire in September?

9. A memorial service for the Duke of Edinburgh was held in March, after his funeral was impacted by the pandemic. Where did it take place?

10. Mike Tindall, who is married to the Princess Royal’s daughter Zara, appeared on which reality TV show in November?

SPORT

1. England were pipped to the top of the medals table at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham by which country?

2. Name the interim manager of Manchester United who took charge of the team in the second half of the 2021/22 Premier League season?

3. In which event did Great Britain win its only gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics?

4. Brendon McCullum took over as coach of England’s test cricket team in May 2022 - which country did he previously represent as a player?

5. How many Premier League goals had 2022 summer signing Erling Haaland scored for Manchester City as of the break for the World Cup in November, in just 13 appearances?

6. Who scored for the Lionesses in England’s 2-1 victory over Germany in the Uefa Women’s Euro 2022 final?

7. Which tennis star announced her shock retirement in March 2022 aged just 26, just two months after winning the Australian Open?

8. Name the 50/1 horse that triumphed at the 2022 Grand National?

9. How many goals did Wales score at the 2022 World Cup in their first appearance at the men’s finals since 1958?

10. Which NFL team secured victory in the 2022 Super Bowl, held at their own ground Sofi Stadium?

ANSWERS

WEST MIDLANDS

1. South Staffordshire

2. JRR Tolkien

3. Owen Paterson

4. Ironbridge

5. Joe Lycett

6. Jade Blades

7. Hugh Porter

8. Jude Bellingham

9. Liverpool

10. Purple

POLITICS

1. 49 days - the shortest in history.

2. The Dominican Republic.

3. Sam Tarry.

4. Stephen Flynn.

5. 126.

6. Chester FC.

7. Neil Parish - the Conservatives lost the subsequent by-election in Tiverton and Honiton to the Liberal Democrats.

8. Paul Givan (DUP).

9. Five - Nadhim Zahawi, Michelle Donelan, James Cleverly, Kit Malthouse, Gillian Keegan.

10. Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins - it emerged he was paid £45,000 to appear in the programme, which has not yet aired.

SHOWBIZ

1. Eleven in Stranger Things.

2. Coda.

3. We Don’t Talk About Bruno from the film Encanto.

4. Jill Scott.

5. Harry Styles with the album Harry’s House.

6. Chris Mason.

7. Spaceman.

8. Kate Winslet who starred alongside daughter Mia Threapleton.

9. Time.

10. Maya Jama.

WHO SAID

1. Conor Burns.

2. David Baddiel.

3. Harry Dunn’s mother Charlotte Charles.

4. Ricky Gervais.

5. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

6. Will Smith, after his infamous Oscars slap.

7. The late bowel cancer campaigner Dame Deborah James.

8. Former prime minister Boris Johnson.

9. The King, in his address to the nation on the day after his mother’s death.

10. Matt Hancock MP, after news broke of his appearance on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES

1. 70 years.

2. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.

3. Rihanna.

4. 79.

5. Valentino.

6. Cambridge.

7. Jack Anthony Alphonsus.

8. Hagrid.

9. Britney Spears.

10. Joss Stone.

WORLD

1. Scott Morrison.

2. Moskva.

3. The Supreme Court.

4. FTX.

5. Mpox.

6. Iran.

7. A suspension bridge.

8. Orion, as part of the Artemis-1 mission.

9. July.

10. Endurance.

ODDS

1. The remains of a giant saltwater crocodile.

2. His false teeth.

3. Sir Rod Stewart.

4. A 13,623-brick replica of their home which is now on permanent display next to the Eiffel Tower in Miniland.

5. 311 litres.

6. 63 hot dogs and buns.

7. Mr Doodle.

8. Hey Duggee.

9. A porcelain toilet, from Tittenhurst Park where Lennon lived with Yoko Ono from 1969 to 1971.

10. A unicorn.

ROYAL

1. Monday September 19.

2. Liz Garbus.

3. Prince and Princess of Wales.

4. The Duke of York.

5. Paddington Bear.

6. The Princess of Wales, then known as the Duchess of Cambridge.

7. Westminster Hall.

8. Lambrook School.

9. Westminster Abbey, where the Queen’s state funeral would be held later in the year.

10. I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!

SPORT

1. Australia.

2. Ralf Rangnick.

3. Women’s curling.

4. New Zealand.

5. 18.

6. Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly.

7. Ashleigh Barty.

8. Noble Yeats.

9. One.

10. Los Angeles Rams.