Talk:Michael Russell (Scottish politician)

disambig? edit

Why does Michael Russell automatically go this fellow's article? Is he more important than the others? That's not really fair. I think typing Michael Russell should go straight to the disambiguation page. ~ GoldenGoose100 (talk) 08:45, 23 January 2008 (UTC)Reply


Requested move edit

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved back to the original title - Michael Russell (poliician). Kotniski (talk) 09:34, 20 May 2011 (UTC)Reply


Michael William RussellMike Russell (politician) — Per standard Wikipedia policy regarding naming of biographical articles, eg. see Bill Clinton and Bill Aitken (politician). Mais oui! (talk) 10:03, 12 May 2011 (UTC)Reply

Survey edit

Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with *'''Support''' or *'''Oppose''', then sign your comment with ~~~~. Since polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account Wikipedia's policy on article titles.
  • Support - I didn't even realise Mike wasn't his official name, he's never referred to Scotland as anything but in my experience. Akerbeltz (talk) 15:22, 12 May 2011 (UTC)Reply
  • Seems sensible to me. But I think we should discuss this rather then poll, and I decline to put anything in big bold letters. Can someone put an opposing argument? I'd like to hear that too.--Scott Mac 15:36, 12 May 2011 (UTC)Reply
  • Support per WP:COMMONNAME. I'd be happy with Michael Russell as well, Michael William Russell only seems to be used on the ballot paper. Tassedethe (talk) 15:46, 12 May 2011 (UTC)Reply
  • Support appears to provide adequate identification and more recognisable than middle name. Finavon (talk) 17:28, 12 May 2011 (UTC)Reply
  • Oppose This is the name he stands for election as which the bbc confirms, and just (politician)would be lacking/inprecise as he is also notable for his broadcasting/media career and writing and continues to own and run his production company. 87.112.247.194 (talk) 17:32, 12 May 2011 (UTC)Reply
  • Oppose. When I saw a note about this I thought "sure, no brainer". But looking at it I'm not convinced at all. The SNP website says Michael Russell. ForArgyll says Michael Russell. TheyWorkForYou says Michael Russell. Then there's Facebook and Twitter too. Self-identification trumps lazy journalism. Finally, Mike Russell is not unambiguous, so there is no real benefit to readers in moving this as proposed. Michael Russell (politician) would be ok, but again I don't see the benefit of a move. May as well stay where it is. Angus McLellan (Talk) 02:32, 13 May 2011 (UTC) (Slightly revised Angus McLellan (Talk) 16:44, 16 May 2011 (UTC))Reply
  • Support, as per WP:COMMONNAME, I would agree that dropping the middle name would conform to this policy, and I didn't even realise that was his middle name until coming here so it's unlikely it's his common name. JoshuaJohnLee talk softly, please 01:50, 18 May 2011 (UTC)Reply

Discussion edit

Any additional comments:
  • "... he is also notable for his broadcasting/media career and writing and continues to own and run his production company". Err... it is primary notability that is used to disambiguate. If he was not an MSP, he would probably not even have an article at all! --Mais oui! (talk) 17:38, 12 May 2011 (UTC)Reply

also I believe self identification should be taken into account http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=146802558681502 was run by him and his acccount and twitter etc all self identify as michael not mike. It is generally tabloids refering to him as mike not really what we should follow. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.112.247.194 (talk) 18:03, 12 May 2011 (UTC)Reply

There seems to be a good argument to stick to Michael rather than Mike but I think there is very good sense in dropping William from the main article name. I'd be happy with Michael Russell too Akerbeltz (talk) 10:39, 13 May 2011 (UTC)Reply
  • As nominator, I'd be happy with Michael Russell (politician) too. It is the use of the middle name William which breaks crystal clear Wikipedia article naming rules. Both Mike Russell and Michael Russell are commonly used in reliable external sources. --Mais oui! (talk) 18:34, 16 May 2011 (UTC)Reply
Which "crystal clear Wikipedia article naming rules" are you referring to? --Vclaw (talk) 01:45, 18 May 2011 (UTC)Reply
Don't be obtuse. As a very experienced editor you know precisely which crystal clear rules we are referring to. We should NEVER disambiguate by rarely-used middle names. We use the commonly-used name + surname, then a bracketed disambig if necessary. I really cannot be arsed with daftness about such a minor, uncontroversial, open-and-shut dab case. Do as you like. Wikipedia will never be improved if experienced editors start behaving in such a downright contrary manner. --Mais oui! (talk) 14:05, 18 May 2011 (UTC)Reply
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Gaelic edit

Does he speak Gaelic fluently? If so, does he use it publicly? The article notes that he has been Minister for Gaelic, so his use of the language would be important and relevant. Some information on activities here would be very welcome. --Doric Loon (talk) 09:28, 19 January 2012 (UTC)Reply

All I know is that he took his parliamentary oath in English, Scots and Gaelic. So we at least know he can read Gaelic. ;) I imagine he probably does speak it but I've never seen him do it publicly, nor on twitter for that matter. Joshua Lee talk softly, please 17:33, 19 January 2012 (UTC)Reply
He's more or less fluent, even held a speech to the EU in Gaelic (see [1]). Akerbeltz (talk) 18:08, 19 January 2012 (UTC)Reply

England related categories edit

The figure was born in England but is long term resident and an active politician in Scotland. Disagreement as to whether the subject should be placed in categories such as English writers in addition to the existing Scottish categories. Some additional opinions would be good. 13:40, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

Where people are born in one country and long term resident in another often both are reflected in categories? Anglo-Scots and people from Bromley are already reflected in the categories but additional categories reflecting the birth country were removed. Any additional comments would be welcome. RafikiSykes (talk) 17:28, 2 May 2012 (UTC)Reply

Removed critics text edit

Critics term Russell "The Bromley Brayer" in references to English birth and his frequent vocal opinions.<ref>{{cite web|author=Alan Cochrane |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9174961/The-Bromley-Brayer-is-keeping-strangely-quiet.html |title=The Bromley Brayer is keeping strangely quiet |publisher=Telegraph |date=2012-03-29 |accessdate=2012-04-03}}</ref>


No objection if that needs to stay out due to blp concerns but the English birth thing is something various people bring up when critical of Russell so some mention seems relevant(the birth place thing is present in Obama's article isnt it?). A Galloway article is along the same lines."The long-running radio equivalent of Question Time was in The Highlands so of course a collection of Sporrans had to be assembled. (Russell is an Englishman and all the evidence is that Highlanders groan just as loudly when Newsnight morphs into its White Heather Club alter-ego Newsnicht as any other thinking people in Scotland)."[2]RafikiSykes (talk) 17:46, 2 May 2012 (UTC)Reply

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