Talk:Des Browne

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PHOTO NEEDED

The powers-that-be on Wikipedia seem to be objecting to official governemnt photos of British politicians being used on Wikipedia as Crown Copyright is not a sufficiently free license. Apparently they are readily replaceable with free images. Not that I can find any. So here's the challenge people. If Des Browne (or one of his colleagues) is going to be in your area and you have a spare minute, grab your digital photos and get snapping! Hopefully we'll get a new photo soon. All efforts appreciated.WJBscribe 01:11, 23 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I've found a free pic for the time being. Taken by a US Def Dep employee. Would be nice to have one where he's vaguely looking at the camera though... WJBscribe 02:03, 23 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Apology

Can the text of his "apology" in the Commons be quoted in the main article? It must be one of the most convoluted apologies of all time and is going to go down in history. --jmb 13:10, 21 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Swiss Des?

Not once have I heard him referred to as 'Swiss Des'. His facial similarity to 'Swiss Toni' is readily apparent - agreed - but the monkier 'Swiss Toni' was applied to him the same day he was appointed in office by a contributor to the ARRSE website. Even his own staff refer to him as 'Swiss Toni'. Behind his back, I might add. 82.110.109.212 10:20, 5 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move

The following is a closed discussion of the proposal. 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 proposal was not moved. Same rationale as in Talk:Jeremy Beecham. There seems to be little doubt (in the arguments below) that this individual is better known without the title and WP:NCPEER seems reasonably clear that we should use the personal name.--rgpk (comment) 17:44, 15 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Des Browne → Des Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton.

Oppose - Known for being Scottish Secretary and Defence Secretary while he was an MP and not as a peer. Also no disambiguation is required for this article title.--Lucy-marie (talk) 18:29, 1 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Support. WP:NCPEER is quite clear. This chap is no longer wholly or exclusively known by his pre-peerage nomenclature. Kittybrewster ☎ 15:15, 1 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose for same reasons as given above. Also compare Peter Mandelson, John Prescott, Michael Howard, David Trimble, Tommy McAvoy, Paul Boateng, Jack McConnell etc. Johnhousefriday (talk) 01:43, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Johnhousefriday could have added David Steel to his list. And James Douglas-Hamilton is commonly known as just that, not James Douglas-Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas, so that article ought to be renamed, not this one. Scottish politicians who are peers do not go about advertising the fact. For obvious reasons. --Mais oui! (talk) 16:39, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Support. Former politicians who have been ennobled are almost invariably known by their titles thereafter. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:31, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - This is not a Crystal Ball and what they are currently known is what we have to take as the current commonly used name. If in the future the individual is known regularly by their ennobled title then that would be grounds to change the article title. To though say, it is expected that the names they are known by will change is not how things work on Wikipeida. --Lucy-marie (talk) 17:36, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose per WP:COMMON. His primary period of notability was (obviously) as a member of the Cabinet. It is highly unlikely that he will ever again be anywhere near as prominent as he was then. If, against overwhelming expectations, he becomes famous as a Lord, or as a circus acrobat or as a serial murderer, or whatever, then we can retitle the article. --Mais oui! (talk) 16:12, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Given that Browne only acquired the title less than a year ago, and has had a very quiet career since - it was hard to find nontrivial recent coverage on him by either name! - this seems like a pretty good case of "keep at the old name". Moving when someone continues to have a public career after being ennobled makes sense, but retitling every ex-Minister who gets sent to the Lords doesn't seem to help. Common name, not most formal style. Shimgray | talk | 18:09, 4 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose like most of the other identical situations (we really ought to have one centralized discussion about this issue, I can't be bothered writing the same arguments on 20 different pages).--Kotniski (talk) 09:17, 9 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. 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.

External links modified

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External links modified

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