Talk:Boris Johnson/Archive 11

Archive 5

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Archive 10

Archive 11

Petronella Wyatt

@DeFacto: reverted an edit by me but I have since noticed an inconsistency so bringing it to the talk page. One section of the article (Boris Johnson#Becoming an MP) states "Johnson had been having an affair with Spectator columnist Petronella Wyatt, resulting in two abortions", whereas the Boris Johnson#Relationships section states "Johnson had an affair with Spectator columnist Petronella Wyatt when he was its editor, resulting in a terminated pregnancy and a miscarriage."

The term termination of pregnancy is a synonym for abortion and the wikipedia article on it is a redirect to abortion, so I wouldn't have thought changing that bit so that it reflects the most commonly-used term and title of the article would be an issue– however I'm struggling to find any information about whether there was one abortion and one miscarriage, or two abortions. This Guardian article from 2004 indicates that the Daily Mail claimed there were two abortions but Wyatt's mother claimed there was only one, so the latter seems more likely- any more definitive info available on that so we can make sure the article is correct in both places Johnson's relations with Wyatt are discussed? Chessrat ^{(talk, contributions)} 22:19, 11 July 2023 (UTC)

Tatler source

The Tatler source being used for the divorce from Marina Wheeler does not say they divorced in November 2020.[1], neither do reliable sources. Please remove November and keep 2020. 2A00:23C7:1104:F601:A1BE:310B:E1A0:5C81 (talk) 09:16, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Cherrell410^{(t · c)} 16:31, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

@Cherrell410: I believe they want the mention of "November" to be removed from the and the divorce was finalised by November 2020 statement. Looking at the cited source, I certainly can't see it. Digging further, I couldn't find any reliable source that specifies the month. M.Bitton (talk) 16:57, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

@M.Bitton: I get that, but they didn't specify where in the article this should happen, nor did they use an x to y format. Cherrell410^{(t · c)} 18:14, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

Length

At nearly 20k words, this article is in significant need of being made more concise, per WP:TOOBIG. Nikkimaria (talk) 00:48, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

I made a similar point recently that was completely ignored - Talk:Boris_Johnson/Archive_10#Not_News - but also see WP:NOTNEWS and WP:10YEARTEST. Some of the stuff added to this article in mid-2019 is relatively pointless (for example, a random spending commitment from Sajid Javid when he was Chancellor which is somehow its entire section in this article). Completely in agreement this needs to be chopped and most of the chopping can be done in the extremely long Premiership section. Spa-Franks (talk) 00:21, 24 July 2023 (UTC)

I agree completely @Nikkimaria @Spa-Franks. I've started to trim down the Premiership section as I believe it should only act as a brief summary, feel free to join in Michaeldble (talk) 14:33, 3 August 2023 (UTC)

"Libertarian"

Calling him this label is very questionable indeed. In government he initiated a brutal lockdown, surpressed dissent and even tried to legislate about what food and drink we eat. Libertarian? I think this label violates a neutral point of view. 2.98.183.194 (talk) 13:24, 25 August 2023 (UTC)

 Partly done: The references to "libertarian" or "libertarianism" in the article text all use in-text attribution to the individual or publication giving this view. The categories claiming this characterisation have been removed, as they are not sufficiently verifiable by reliable sources. Cambial — foliar❧ 13:56, 25 August 2023 (UTC)

Thank you! These statements cannot be accurately verified. 2.98.183.194 (talk) 18:07, 25 August 2023 (UTC)

Former politician

Propose that the first line: "Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (/ˈfɛfəl/, born 19 June 1964) is a British politician"

Should be changed to "Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (/ˈfɛfəl/, born 19 June 1964) is a British former politician"

As he is no longer a working politician - he resigned. This would align the description of him with other former politicians on Wiki, e.g. the first line of John Major's wiki entry. 86.166.172.105 (talk) 05:47, 11 September 2023 (UTC)

Too soon. Major hasn't been an MP for over 20 years and he stated at the time that he was out for good. Johnson hasn't been an MP for a few months and I'm not aware of a statement that he's out for good: he's a former MP, but might not be a former politician. EddieHugh (talk) 17:38, 12 September 2023 (UTC)

Own chapter

Maybe you should put all his controversies, criminal career, and so on, in a chapter of it's own to make it all better to read? 188.113.95.213 (talk) 20:16, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

It is Wikipedia policy to avoid controversy sections whenever possible. (See WP:CRITS.) It would be very hard to do anyway. Johnson's controversies are woven into his various careers to the point where they could not easily be separated out into their own section without completely breaking up the sequential flow of the article. --DanielRigal (talk) 22:38, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Category:GB News newsreaders and journalists

Can this category be added to this page? He's now a part of GB News. 195.99.227.0 (talk) 13:15, 18 November 2023 (UTC)

Has he actually started yet? The article only mentions it being announced. Also, would he even be joining as a newsreader/journalist? It sounds more like he will be a presenter of an opinion/analysis show. I'm not sure if those belong in that category? If not, Category:GB News might be an alternative. --DanielRigal (talk) 22:45, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 15 November 2023

Delete this text: 'Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects (Hon FRIBA),[878] 2011[879]' 2A02:C7C:369C:4100:A1:3418:4A5D:BA7D (talk) 10:54, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

Why? I see that there were calls for this title to be stripped, but I can't find anything about it coming to fruition. SmartSE (talk) 11:00, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Awhellnawr123214 (talk) 04:06, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

If the award is rescinded then we should not just remove mention of it. We should briefly cover that it was awarded and then rescinded. --DanielRigal (talk) 22:47, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Can the description be change from politician to former politician

Giving that both Nadine Dorries and Boris Johnson are no longer members of parliament and giving that on the wiki page of Nadine Dorries that she's now a former politician. I believe the same applies to Boris Johnson, so please can someone update the description saying that Boris is now a former politician. 82.19.40.217 (talk) 12:45, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Ex Prime Ministers will remain politicians. Look at Tony Blair/Gordon Brown! Nadine Dorries is a privy councilor, she too remains a politician as a former Minister. https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/privy-council/privy-council-members/#dJaymailsays (talk) 13:49, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Boris Johnson's interests as recorded in Companies House

Boris Johnson became a director of Black Rock Productions Limited on 7 April 2006. It was established by Warren Street Registrars Limited, as director, and Warren Street Nominees Limited, as secretary, registration agents who resigned the same day. Two co-directors were also appointed on 7 April 2006, John David Nicholas Jeffcock and Barnaby John Benison Spurrier. The company name was changed to FINLAND STATION LIMITED on 19 Mar 2007. Boris Johnson resigned on 23 May 2008 and the company was dissolved on 5 April 2016. The last accounts were made up to 28 February 2015 which means that the final accounts are overdue. AlisonDueDiligence (talk) 07:26, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

And that's relevant because...? Mattdaviesfsic (talk) 09:02, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

It isn't. If he was a current director of any companies that might be relevant, but he's not. Black Kite (talk) 09:06, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

He purports to be two people in Companies House and this has corrupted any audit or due diligence associated to him, even now, because conflicts or mutual interests can occur after the event. AlisonDueDiligence (talk) 11:13, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Do you mean that some of his interests are registered under slightly different names? Not sure if that's unlawful. Martinevans123 (talk) 11:15, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

To create two identities you have to vary one of: the name, date of birth or usual residential address. You are supposed to keep your details up to date. Because he has registered 2 identities, Companies House presents material misinformation by stating "Total number of appointments : 1" in each identity. AlisonDueDiligence (talk) 11:24, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Um... but it's obvious it's the same person, i.e. him? Martinevans123 (talk) 11:46, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

When I showed this to a recently retired chartered accountant, he said he had no idea that people could have multiple identities. None of the audit protocols include searching on a director's name in Companies House. He said every audit he's ever done is potentially compromised by multiple identities he failed to check for, because the ISO240 does not draw attention to this type of fraud, so there are no measures to mitigate the risk. The Financial Conduct Authority define clone firm fraud but not clone individual fraud. Going into Companies House is normally done via the company name. Once in the record of one identity you have no idea of the other identity's existence. So they are never considered within an audit. AlisonDueDiligence (talk) 16:17, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

You're accusing Johnson of fraud? Or is it that just the recently retired chartered accountant? Unfortunately they're not considered WP:RS. If you find a source that is, which mentions these anomalies, together with their significance, they maybe we could add something. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:34, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

Computer audit software would be unaware that the other identity exists. Note that both his interests It gets more interesting when we start to look at his co-directors. His other identity is as Boris Johnson, director of the London Climate Change Agency. I'll do a better summary shortly. I'm working on it over in substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/alisonwright/p/boris-johnson-due-diligence-two-identities?r=15h096&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcome=true AlisonDueDiligence (talk) 11:20, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Are you offering some kind of "computer audit software" to Companies House? That's very charitable of you. You think they are unaware that he's got slightly different details there? Do you think he has broken the law? Best tell the press! Martinevans123 (talk) 11:48, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Creating multiple identities can be done accidentally. In which case, they will have declared all their interests. If they have failed to declare all their interests then this is evidence that the created the duplicate identity in order to conceal the interest. Which is fraudulent. AlisonDueDiligence (talk) 17:26, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

I think there may be a logical error in that reasoning. Martinevans123 (talk) 18:00, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

Creating multiple identities can be done accidentally. In which case, they will still declare all of their interests in whichever firms' Register of Interests, as they have not created multiple identities intentionally, in order to conceal interests. So, whether or not they declare all their interests in the relevant Register of Interest is a test of whether the duplicate identities was established with the intent to deceive. If they have failed to declare all their interests, then, this is evidence that they created the duplicate identity in order to conceal the interest. Which is fraudulent. AlisonDueDiligence (talk) 18:23, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

It's really common for this to happen at Companies House, though, usually because people sometimes include middle names and sometimes don't, get married and don't update the one with their maiden name, etc. etc. Unless Johnson was actually trying to push a narrative that these are two different people - which he's clearly not because they obviously are - I don't think there's an issue here. Also, we'd need reliable sources commenting on the issue anyway; I suspect the fact that none appear to have done so gives us an idea of how important it is - or, in this case, isn't. Black Kite (talk) 11:52, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Yes, people do move house occasionally... one minute you're in Downing Street... the next minute, you're not! Martinevans123 (talk) 12:04, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Each year the director has to confirm their registration details are correct as part of the process leading up to the confirmation statement as well as for the accounts. The officer has a duty to update the register within 2 weeks of changes and there's provision for changing addresses, changing names etc. AlisonDueDiligence (talk) 18:20, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

So when the CEO at Companies House Louise Smyth, announces publicly, that she has found a problem with Mr Johnson's details, and this has been widely reported in WP:RS secondary sources, we can add something to the article, yes? Martinevans123 (talk) 18:24, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

"Johnson is seen by many as a controversial figure in British politics"

This statement from the lead section is banal when applied to most politicians who have been in competitive elections. It is based on sources from 2019 and thus quite possibly anachronistic. Here in 2024, the British people are, as has been covered in reliable sources, fairly united on the topic of Boris Johnson (see, e.g., 1 2 ).

Frankly I think we can just delete this whole paragraph from the lead section as undue there. Instead, we can simply state factually that he wrote some books and made television appearances, and that there have been controversies around statements he has made. FOARP (talk) 10:45, 29 January 2024 (UTC)

Buses

Re this edit. I agree that it's insignificant and probably shouldn't even be mentioned. We definitely should not be taking him at his word, considering many have suggested Johnson might have said that to fiddle with search engine results.[2][3][4] – filelakeshoe (t / c) 🐱 16:04, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

The current wording is "has said", which is neutral and much more improved than "claimed". That said, there is a question about whether it's notable enough to be mentioned at all. — Czello ^(music) 16:06, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

As a stand-alone statement, Johnson's building model buses is indeed insignificant. However, I think the fact that he once said this is notable, contributing to the article's overall impression of the man. It should be restored. Incidentally, thanks to User:Nikkimaria for all their work in condensing this article. Masato.harada (talk) 07:58, 27 February 2024 (UTC)

Thanks Masato.harada - could you elaborate on why you feel this is notable? Nikkimaria (talk) 23:57, 27 February 2024 (UTC)

Johnson's career has been accompanied by constant accusations of facetiousness and his spreading myths and lies. His 2019 statement about building model buses for relaxation is another example, unsupported by evidence from him. Masato.harada (talk) 13:43, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

This is a strange hill to die on. We don't normally demand evidence for a subject's hobbies. Indeed it really works the other way – we'd need evidence that he's actively lying about this. Even then, I'm sceptical about how notable this is. — Czello ^(music) 13:48, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Other areas to shorten

"The subsections of "First term: 2008–2012" could do with some chopping/summarizing, especially since this is a spun-off topic.

The second term section seems an acceptable length. SecretName101 (talk) 17:51, 4 March 2024 (UTC)