Talk:Alex Phillips (TV presenter)

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Title of article - proposed move[edit]

As I write, this article is called Alexandra Phillips (politician). This is deeply confusing and the hatnote

For other people named Alexandra Phillips, see Alexandra Phillips.

is inadequate to make it clear that this is not the only MEP for South East England elected in 2019 called Alexandra Phillips.

Distinguishing by using a nickname is not such a bad idea, and what I used to separate the two articles Nicholas Davies (journalist) and Nick Davies (not only both prominent journalists usually called Nick Davies, but once working in the same building). Adding '(politician)' or '(journalist)' doesn't help much when both have the same occupation. However, there is a problem in that for all we know the Brexit Party MEP is also called Alex to her friends (can someone please check?), and in official and semi-official contexts the Green MEP is known as Alexandra too. [1]

It's a problem that Alex Phillips (politician) pointed to the Green Mayor and now User:Moonraker moved [2] page Alexandra Phillips (Brexit politician) to Alexandra Phillips (politician): (Comment was 'When someone has belonged to three parties, it is invidious to refer to only one of them.') No, why would you impute bad intent to anyone pointing out the main distinguishing feature? Suggesting the Mayor is a member of the Brexit party could be a BLP problem. Given the two subjects have similar status, using current notability is reasonable, and the fact that 'Brexit' is not the name of the party but does encompass UKIP, it seems a confusing and unwise move. As I write, this confusion is shown by the fact the article text contains this:

A Green Party candidate in the same South East Region was also called Alexandra Phillips, and as first candidate on her party's list was also elected.

So the obvious proposal is that Alex Phillips (politician), which is ambiguous, goes to the disambiguation page, as does Alexandra_Phillips and this page is moved to a title that includes the disambiguating feature, probably as it was before. --Cedderstk 16:30, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

(clarification). Confusingly, when I wrote 'Alex Phillips (politician)' I meant to redirect 'Alexandra Phillips (politician)'. I see the wikilink in the text was correct, but since I was focussing on the disambiguating expression I'd mistakenly thought it wasn't. --Cedderstk 17:31, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose A proposal like this on a talk page needs to wait for consensus. As I said in my edit summary, it is invidious to refer to only one of the parties which this politician has belonged to. We only have one article using the name "Alexandra Phillips", so all we need is something to disambiguate the page from the dab page "Alexandra Phillips" and from the other potentially notable Alexandra Phillips, who was a Miss Germany. That disambiguation page is only needed because it has three entries. Moonraker (talk) 16:42, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Also, "Brexit politician" is absurd. Moonraker (talk) 16:46, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
As a matter of fact and as you (Moonraker) know [[3]], the Miss Germany entry was added after the disambiguation page was created, so that reason falls. Do you have any additional reasoning? You may be correct that waiting for consensus rather than straightforward reverting is good, but, hey, WP:FIXIT and I just assumed you'd made a mistake. Your argument that the symmetry of two articles for people of similar standing including their current political orientation is somehow 'invidious' (not quite sure what you mean here) is that it doesn't mention UKIP and one other possible party. Therefore your dispute seems to be with the article lede, not its URL. IMHO we don't need to mention less prominent roles at Winston Churchill (disambiguation), nor all Churchill's political affiliations in the title or even lede; see those articles for an example how to deal with such complexity.
And I didn't choose the title 'Brexit politician' and don't see why it's 'absurd'. It clarifies to the reader, which is the important thing. It also seems to be becoming common usage, being used in the FT [[4]], and Nigel Farage being described as 'Brexit leader'[5]. --Cedderstk 17:06, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Alexandra Phillips (Brexit politician) - I moved it to this title originally as I believe it is the most clear name. Brexit politician is not absurd, it is both a shortening of Brexit Party and encompasses her work with the Brexit supporting UKIP. It is as short and sweat as can be, while also being a clear disambiguation from the Green MEP. As per WP:NOPRIMARY, it is acceptable to have a DAB page with only two entries if there is not clear primary topic, as in this case. And following the latest move, it is more common to DAB British people by description rather than middle name/initial because. Gaia Octavia Agrippa Talk 17:00, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
She is also not notable for being a UKIP advisor, but for being an MEP. Gaia Octavia Agrippa Talk 17:02, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
With the greatest respect, "Brexit Party politician", clumsy though it was, was at least meaningful English. NB, as the creator I wish to nominate this for DYK, but not with a foolish title. People are not WP:N notable for a particular aspect of their career, they are either notable or they are not. Moonraker (talk) 17:08, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
She is notable because she satisfies WP:POLITICIAN; so yes, part of her career. Brexit politician is perfectly acceptable in the same way as Green politician is: the latter is not referring to the politicians colour but their politics/party. And they are short, as is the aim of DABs. You being the creator means next to nothing as you should know, and the DAB wouldn't be seen on a DYK anyway. Gaia Octavia Agrippa Talk 17:13, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
As a side note, she is not known by her full name or with middle initial, so the current article name is not "unambiguous, commonly used, and clear". Gaia Octavia Agrippa Talk 17:19, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Gaia Octavia Agrippa you are of course right that the page creator has no special status. I was mentioning that as creator I want to nominate this for DYK and would not do it under a title I disapproved of. As a matter of normal courtesy, I think most people would see my point. Moonraker (talk) 17:37, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Apologies Moonraker; in my tiredness following the night before I had read those as two, unconnected statements. Gaia Octavia Agrippa Talk 00:50, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Comment. Thanks for the clarifications and reference to WP:NOPRIMARY. I see the article was moved to 'Alexandra Phillips (Brexit Party)'[6] before Moonraker reverted that and GOA clarified it again by a second move. I suppose for symmetry and since the word 'politician' was added, I'd prefer 'Brexit politician' (after all 'Green' is not the full name of the Green Party of England and Wales). What really is a problem is a parenthetical expression that adds no information. As GOA says, middle initial is not commonly used (let alone with a stop after it) in British English and doesn't clarify. I'd be content with 'Brexit Party politician'. To avoid any further confusion looking at history and with cached results, maybe let's not move again until we have more comments? --Cedderstk 17:21, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I began the page as simply "Alexandra Phillips" and I also began the page Alex Phillips (politician), which is now at Alex Phillips (Green politician). Something extra was needed because we already have Alex Phillips (cinematographer) and Alex Phillips (poet). There clearly are some problems here which may be unprecedented, but I do not like unnecessarily complicated disambiguation titles, and the normal practice is to avoid them, too. It may be that we shall know in a day or two how the two ladies resolve the possibility that they will be confused. Middle initials are the usual answer, but they may find another solution. Moonraker (talk) 17:31, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Middle initials are not the usual way of DABing Brits who rarely use middle names, unlike Americans for whom it would be appropriate. For example: (including "(Conservative politician)"), (including "(Liberal politician)") etc. It is standard to drop the Party bit off the end of political party's names; the political infobox does this automatically. For now, the clearest and most simple DABs are Alex Phillips (Green politician) and Alexandra Phillips (Brexit politician). The former has been called Alexandra or Alex Phillips in the various coverage she has had, so it isn't as simple as DABing via a nickname, Gaia Octavia Agrippa Talk 17:37, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
WP:MIDDLE: "Adding given names, or their abbreviations, merely for disambiguation purposes (if that format of the name is not commonly used to refer to the person) is not advised." Opera hat (talk) 20:46, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Alexandra Phillips (Brexit Party) and Alexandra Phillips (Green Party) seems like the best solution to me, but I'm also happy with GOA's Alexandra Phillips (Brexit politician) and Alexandra Phillips (Green politician), only I've been reading them both as abbreviated forms of "Brexit Party politician" and "Green Party politician", which would also work but is quite long. ─ ReconditeRodent « talk · contribs » 22:01, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I would go for Alexandra Phillips (Brexit politician) and Alexandra Phillips (Green politician), with ambiguous titles such as Alex Phillips (politician) redirecting to the dab. Overriding WP:MIDDLE would only disambiguate one title, as one of the MEPs appears to have no middle name. ...politician) seems better than ...Party), if only because they're politicians rather than parties. A {{distinguish}} hatnote would definitely be useful; there's no need for a hatnote to Miss Germany per WP:NAMB. Certes (talk) 23:24, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Alexandra Phillips (Brexit Party) and Alexandra Phillips (Green Party). It's not clear that either shorten their name to "Alex" more often than the other. More important is that the hatnotes should specifically say "for the [Green/Brexit] MEP of the same name, see ___". — Bilorv (he/him) (talk) 23:31, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Alexandra Phillips (Brexit politician) and Alexandra Phillips (Green politician), but would be ok with "... Party)" as 2nd choice. Clear, distinguishing. And good hatnotes essential. PamD 23:51, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I note that this page has been moved to Alexandra L. Phillips, but the Green Party politician has middle initials L.R. according to this document from the 2019 Brighton & Hove election so I'm not sure using initials is an improvement. 86.153.116.249 (talk) 06:51, 28 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for finding that, I'll add the initials to that article. Gaia Octavia Agrippa Talk 20:57, 28 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I'm aware this isn't usual Wikipedia practice, but has anyone actually asked the two MEPs in question how they would prefer to resolve this conflict? If one of them wants to be known by 'Alex Phillips' or something else, that would be helpful; but this column published yesterday by the Green MEP is under the name Alexandra Phillips:[7] In the absence of intervention from the MEPs themselves, I'd say something as awkward as 'Brexit Party MEP' and 'Green Party MEP' may have to be used. Robofish (talk) 15:16, 28 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Alexandra Phillips (Brexit Party politician) and Alexandra Phillips (Green politician). Including "politician" is in line with the usual preference for "a noun indicating what the person is noted for being" (WP:NCPDAB). I'd prefer "Brexit Party politican" to "Brexit politician" as the latter could mean a politician involved with Brexit, but I'm not adamant about this. Also, I agree with Certes that a {{distinguish}} template is desirable given the high risk of confusion. EmphasisMine (talk) 18:59, 28 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Well, this is looking like pretty overwhelming consensus against using the initial in the title. As this isn't a formal RM discussion I'm just going to be bold and move it myself. Opera hat (talk) 02:13, 29 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Opera hat: Where are we now on disambugating the names in lists and tables, diff? --The Vintage Feminist (talk) 15:31, 30 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, I don't think I understand what you mean. Disambiguation is only needed in article titles because technical reasons prevent Wikipedia from having multiple articles with the same title. Why should it be an issue in lists and tables? Opera hat (talk) 00:25, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The Vintage Feminist, in the example you've given it shows they belong to different political parties, so it should be clear they are not the same person. Are there tables without such distinction? If confusion were to arise in running text, then it would be about clarity rather than "disambiguating" in the Wiki sense. E.g. "the South East elected two Alexandra Phillips': [[Alexandra Phillips (Brexit Party politician)|one from the Brexit Party]] and [[Alex Phillips (Green politician)|one from Greens]]". Gaia Octavia Agrippa Talk 00:50, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
@Gaia Octavia Agrippa @Opera hat I was really talking about edit summary given for the revert which states, both Phillipses are called Alexandra in the cited source, I not sure I see why both Phillipses being called Alexandra in a cited source matters in terms of what we call them in the table as opposed - for example - to what they are known as or using the names of the articles as a starting point. I watched the BBC's coverage as it happened which showed a table which also had the names of the parties and thought, "Oh, whoever has hurriedly rushed out the figures has made an error and put down the same name twice for two different parties." That was partly due to typos etc. I have seen on the BBC previously. Wikipedia also has typos, bare urls etc. and it seemed to me that if it were possible to make a differentiation between the two then why would that opportunity not be taken e.g. Alex and Alexandra? --The Vintage Feminist (talk) 02:47, 31 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]
In that edit summary I meant that as they were both called Alexandra in the BBC source, that's what they should probably be on Wikipedia as well. The contributors to the discussion above seem to agree, so I've moved the other A. Phillips's article as well. Opera hat (talk) 15:17, 1 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]
WP:MIDDLENAME says that this kind of disambiguation is "not advised". Opera hat (talk) 11:32, 23 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Hatnotes and templates[edit]

I'd suggest using the 'distinguish' template for hatnotes (rather than 'other people'), given the exceptional potential for confusion between the two articles for MEPs called Alexandra Phillips that exist. Referring to nickname is tricky with little in the way of sources (at least Nicholas Davies started writing under his full name eventually). Contrary to what has been adopted on Wikipedia so far, the Mirror[8] has

Alex Phillips (Brexit)
Alexandra Phillips (Green)

and I see this elsewhere [9]. The Notice of Poll[10] just has 'Alexandra Phillips' and 'Alexandra Lesley Phillips'.

Also IMHO 'cite news' and 'cite web' templates for references would be useful to improve linking and consistent formatting. --Cedderstk 18:13, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Further info. It looks like the current Brexit Party MEP is also frequently referred to as 'Alex', so unless they do indeed agree to clarify this themselves, editors should be careful to use reliable sources.
  • Express 'Alex Phillips, Brexit Party candidate in the South East'[11];
  • BBC: 'Alex Phillips, who was UKIP's head of media for two years'[12];
  • Mirror: 'Alex Phillips announced she had quit today just hours before Mr Farage is replaced as leader' [13]
hope sources are useful too. --Cedderstk 18:26, 27 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Cambridge Analytica[edit]

Interesting that an IP-only address tried to remove this reliably sourced information just a few days after it was posted. Shtove 22:48, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

And a second attempt made 11 July. Shtove 02:03, 12 July 2019 (UTC)

'Enthralled'?[edit]

This sentence in the article does not seem to be accurate. The reference given does not mention the word 'enthralled', for example.

"She reported that this experience was an important factor in her later joining the party as she was enthralled by then leader Nigel Farage's personality, and supported the party's positions on the expansion of grammar schools, supporting fracking, and Euroscepticism.[4]"

Varnebank (talk) 17:38, 2 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Claimed suffragist/ette ancestors[edit]

https://twitter.com/BrexitAlex/status/1194257358156976128?s=20

Do we know her ancestors? Did the female ones "fight for universal suffrage"? Is she of a family with a long history of such involvement, or a new entrant? Midgley (talk) 21:12, 12 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

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