Talk:Bill English

message: Who was English's deputy leader? --Midnighttonight 01:24, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Deputy leader

message: Just wondering if there are any citations that could be added to give support for this somewhat loaded statement: While Brash lacked overwhelming popularity, the electorate perceived English as highly ineffectual and prone to embarrassing mistakes. --Asgar12 (talk) 23:48, 8 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: It's gone, per WP:BLP. Looking at NZ Herald articles at the time, I don't see anything to support it. XLerate (talk) 23:37, 7 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Support for statement 

message: English is an active Roman Catholic, opposes abortion, opposes voluntary euthanasia, opposes physician assisted suicide, opposes civil unions  and opposes decriminalisation of prostitution, 
but considers his religious beliefs personal and separate from politics? Really? Kaiwhakahaere (talk) 03:02, 1 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Some non-religious politicians share these views. He's been up front about his views so voters can decide. In any case, this isn't the place for debate about his views. EvidenceFairy (talk) 03:06, 12 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: What?

message: His place of birth is shown as Lumsden but the entry for Dipton says he was born there. But then the entry for Lumsden says he was born there. A crossword clue in the New Zealand newspaper The Wellingtonian (Dec.8 2015) asks what his home town was and the answer that fits is Dipton. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.31.171.92 (talk) 16:37, 30 December 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: The article used to say he was born in Dipton, but this was changed in September 2014 by , citing Temple’s Guide to the 44th New Zealand Parliament which I don't have a copy of to check. There are a number of online sources which say Dipton, for example . It is possible that while his family residence was in Dipton, he was born at a maternity hospital in the slightly larger nearby town of Lumsden.-gadfium 19:41, 30 December 2015 (UTC)

text: His home town was definitely Dipton. That can be confirmed by a number of sources. His family had been farming there for at least one generation, probably more. Lumsden was the nearest town with a maternity hospital at the time, and it was normal for women from Dipton to go there to give birth. EvidenceFairy (talk) 02:59, 12 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: I have now added Dipton as a category at the end of the article. While his legally recorded birthplace is Lumsden, he grew up in Dipton and is regarded as being "from Dipton" by anyone who knows him or his family. Hopefully both Dipton and Lumsden will remain as categories. EvidenceFairy (talk) 04:55, 12 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Place of birth 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: The current infobox image isn't bad, but it was taken in 2005. I've found and uploaded a couple newer images from Flickr, both from September 2016. Both are quite good quality as well, although the backgrounds are a little distracting (one has another person's face, the other has writing). What are people's preferences? IgnorantArmies (talk) 10:38, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  New images available 

message: Media are reporting the English is now the new Prime Minister of NZ, but there seems to be come confusion over this, and some disagreement. For example, I have the BBC News app on my phone, which sent me an alert just now, that reads "Bill English is confirmed as New Zealand's new Prime Minister, after John Key's surprise resignation". But an anonymous user is arguing that this is not the case at present, as he has not been sworn in, and this will not happen for a few hours. So, can we have some clarity on the situation? I know this seems a small point as it won't matter in a few hours from now, but this scenario is bound to occur again when we have a change of PM in another country. This is Paul (talk) 23:24, 11 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: The BBC article actually says "New Zealand's governing National Party has officially appointed Bill English to succeed John Key as prime minister." Note that he is to succeed, not he has succeeded John Key. Key is expected to formally resign later today and Bill English will be sworn in as Prime Minister by the Governor-General following this. Currently English is the leader of the National Party and is PM-designate.86.189.149.210 (talk) 23:29, 11 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: In countries with a UK-based parliamentary democracy, the usual practice is they do not become a Minister or the PM until they have been sworn in by the Sovereign or his/her representative. Some such countries now have a President instead, but I think the same protocol applies. In NZ the Governor-General can swear in a Minister at any time, but a Monday afternoon is the usual time for it. EvidenceFairy (talk) 03:02, 12 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  When does he become Prime Minister? 

message: -Ad Orientem (talk) 01:25, 12 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks, will go there and support it. --EvidenceFairy (talk) 08:52, 14 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Me too. This is Paul (talk) 22:03, 14 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Nominated for ITN 

message: There seems to be some disagreement over whether or not Bill English is the 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand, or the 39th leader of NZ. It's worth noting that articles such as Helen Clark and John Key identify them as the 37th and 38th Prime Ministers of NZ respectively, so maybe we should have some consistency. Either follow what we've done before or change the other articles. Any thoughts? This is Paul (talk) 22:53, 18 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, English is the 39th head of government in New Zealand, but not the 39th Prime Minister. That is because there only became Prime Ministers in New Zealand when New Zealand became a dominion, which was in 1907. Before then there were Premiers and Colonial Secretaries. I think that we should have English down as the 23rd Prime Minister, but have a note next to it explaining about the Premiers and Colonial Secretaries. J947 02:00, 19 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Independent reliable sources recognise him as the 39th Prime Minister, as does List of Prime Ministers of New Zealand. While it can be argued that it is not technically correct, I can't find any sources that refer to him as the 23rd, so we should definitely not use that. Mattlore (talk) 02:21, 19 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: We should still add a note explaining about this. J947 02:34, 19 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Agree, not opposed to a footnote stating that prior to 1907 the head of the government was known by other titles. Mattlore (talk) 02:45, 19 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Seems like a sensible suggestion. This is Paul (talk) 20:40, 19 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Is he the 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand? 

message: Quick question. Now he's Leader of the Opposition again, do we now refer to him as both the 29th Leader of the Opposition and 37th Leader of the Opposition (as the two terms are several years apart), or is he just 29th Leader of the Opposition? I tweaked the infobox accordingly to reflect the two terms, but I'm not really too sure. Any thoughts? This is Paul (talk) 22:01, 25 October 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Leader of the Opposition 

message: Page describes him as a farmer. Is that an accurate call?  Dairyflat (talk) 03:05, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: The page says "A farmer and public servant before entering politics...", and later "English returned to Dipton and farmed for a few years". The reference is not available online. Do you have reason to doubt this? Or are you objecting to :Category:New Zealand farmers? That's not intended to suggest he's still a farmer.-gadfium 07:29, 31 October 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bill English is a farmer? 

message: Please change "Fifth National Government (2008–present)" to "Fifth National Government (2008–2017)", because the National party lost the general election and are currently in opposition to a Labour-Led Government. Skeletonkilljoy2 (talk) 06:09, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Done Gulumeemee (talk) 06:33, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 7 November 2017 

message: Can’t we just put his position as leader of the opposition at the top? He is currently leader of the opposition and so it’s misleading for readers to be shown that his last position was as prime minister Masterpha (talk) 10:00, 2 January 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Leader of opposition at top 

message: Has he resigned as leader? I haven't read the sources, , but listened to the live broadcast on RNZ. English said, in answer to a question, that he will remain party leader until 27 Feb. Schwede66 00:05, 13 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: This article from the New Zealand Herald says, "English will remain leader until his resignation takes effect on February 27." 青い(Aoi) (talk) 00:10, 13 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: He has resigned as National Party leader and will quit politics. ref. Let's quit the semantics over when the resignation will take effect. He has announced his resignation. Akld guy (talk) 00:16, 13 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry, but that is not semantics. For example, another editor replaced English's name in the National Party infobox with "vacant" in the leader area and that is simply not true. I thus reverted that editor. Schwede66 01:30, 13 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Reversion was the correct thing to do. Nothing alters the fact that he has resigned. News sites are saying so. They're not saying that he has hinted that he will resign or that his resignation is pending until 27 February. They're saying that he has resigned. Akld guy (talk) 01:50, 13 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: You claiming the media is not saying "his resignation is pending until 27 February"  is pretty silly considering English made it unambiguously clear.  Here's what he said in his live TV broadcast today, ....my resignation will take effect on Tuesday the twenty seventh....". Got that? Moriori (talk) 02:30, 13 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Do you have a citable reference for that live broadcast? Put up or shut up. All text sources are saying that English HAS resigned, and in the English speaking (no pun intended) world, that means that he continues on until either his successor is appointed (most likely) or he leaves Parliament with no successor appointed (not likely). Resignation does not mean that he abruptly walked away from the job at the time of his announcement, and anyone familiar with the English language understands that, so why the need to explain that it doesn't become effective until 27 February? All we need to say is that he announced his resignation and will retire from politics on 27 February. Akld guy (talk) 03:10, 13 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: This source stated quite clearly, "English will remain leader until his resignation takes effect on February 27." I don't understand why there is a problem with noting in the article exactly when the resignation takes effect? I think it is better to be more specific than less specific. The version of the article proposed earlier could easily be misinterpreted to mean that he resigned as party leader (effective immediately) but would remain in Parliament until February 27. 青い(Aoi) (talk) 03:19, 13 February 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Resignation 

message: , are you sure that "Sir William English" is the correct style for the infobox? I can see that he would be referred to as "Sir William", but is "William" still to be used when the surname is added? Hardly anybody knows him as William English. Schwede66 04:16, 4 June 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Note that his first given name is Simon. Here are some who have been knighted who are best known by informal names:
*Bill Rowling's infobox says Sir Wallace Rowling
*Jack Marshall's infobox says Sir Jack Marshall despite his given name being John
*Bill Birch's infobox says Sir William Birch
*It seems a little inconsistent. I'll add more as they're found. Akld guy (talk) 07:02, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

text: Note also that 2018 Birthday Honours (New Zealand) lists English as The Right Honourable Simon William English, without any mention of "Sir". Akld guy (talk) 07:08, 4 June 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi Schwede. No, I'm not sure now. I didn't think "Sir Bill" was going to be commonly used, but perhaps it is, in which case that's perhaps what it should be. Nurg (talk) 08:21, 4 June 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Akld guy, as it says on top of every honours page, "the recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour". Hence no Sir. Schwede66 09:09, 4 June 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: That makes sense. Gee, sometimes things get done right. Akld guy (talk) 09:29, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

text: Not really any inconsistency here — it's down to what the respective person chose to be called after being knighted.  Rowling was commonly known as Bill, but asked to be called Sir Wallace; from memory he said something like Wallace was the name his parents gave him so he wished to be known as Sir Wallace.  Similiary Bill Birch chose to be known as Sir William.  Marshall was generally called Sir Jack, although Sir John was used on occasion.  So it depends what English chooses to be known as when using the honorific.  According to the NZ Herald  he wants people still to refer to him as Bill, but will use Sir William formally.  Time will tell, but in the meantime I would go with Sir William English, while retaining Bill English for the article title. Paora (talk) 10:50, 6 June 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sir William English 

message: What should Sir Bill's "Official website" link be? The current link is
* http://billenglish.co.nz/ current link which redirects to 
* https://www.national.org.nz/ (redirect from above. No mention on that page of Sir Bill)
* https://www.national.org.nz/billenglish this is also on the above website
* https://www.facebook.com/RtHonBillEnglish/ Facebook link
* https://twitter.com/rthonbenglish Twitter account
Anyone wish to be bold and change it? Jim1138 (talk) 05:47, 4 June 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Official website" 

message: They refer to Bill English, a computer scientist, not the former Prime Minister of New Zealand  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.107.173.91 (talk) 01:49, 21 July 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for letting us know. I've suppressed the entries.-gadfium 02:52, 21 July 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  All authority controls for this entry are wrong 

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thread_title:  A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion