User:Sam Blacketer

"How can you read an encyclopaedia at a time like this?"

An email I sent to the Arbitration mailing list on 20 February

This is just a note to let you know that I have decided that I want to resign from the committee in the near future. This isn't as a mark of protest or of pique, and it's not a criticism of anything, but it's more that I have decreasing time available for Wikipedia work and also that I would prefer to use it on article work - mainly writing. Recently that has been squeezed almost to nothing. Also I don't want to be put in the position where I have to 'rush to judgment' on an important case. Although sometimes exasperating I have enjoyed serving for just over a year and I hope I have accomplished things and sorted out some disputes but there has come a time when others can take this on.

All being well I will still go on with active cases, but I will probably start recusing on some (especially those that look long and complicated) by the end of February and intend to leave at about the end of March so that my seat can be one of those filled in the mid-term elections this year. I hope still to contribute to administrative tasks and to support the committee's work from the outside.

I would be grateful if this was kept confidential for a while, before being publicly announced.

Prosopography target list

Please note that I am not "reserving" these articles for me to create; feel free to write them yourself. It is just a way of focusing my attention and reminding me of what needs to be done.

MPs elected in 1955 Arthur Cecil Allen C. W. Armstrong Archer Baldwin Alfred Balfour Cyril Banks Patrick Bartley Frank Beswick, Baron Beswick Wilfrid Burke Elaine Burton James Clunie Robert Crouch Percy Daines Sidney Dye Stanley Evans Richard Fort Emlyn Garner Evans Alan Gomme-Duncan John Hall (Labour politician) George Harvie-Watt Ian Macdonald Horobin Thomas Hubbard Ian Hutchison James Hutchison (British politician) Howard Johnson (politician) David Thomas Jones Denis Keegan Guy Lloyd Duncan McCallum Peter Macdonald (Conservative politician) Alan McKibbin William Mainwaring Frederick Messer Percy Morris Morgan Phillips Price David Pryde Victor Raikes Peter Remnant Percy Shurmer Joseph Sparks Douglas Spencer-Nairn Patrick Spens Lawrence Turner Henry Usborne Samuel Viant Charles Waterhouse Charles Williams (UK politician) Gerald Williams (politician)

UK Members of the European Parliament Gordon Adam Richard Balfe Roger Barton (politician) Robert Battersby Peter Beazley John Bird (British politician) David Bowe (politician) Beata Brookes Bryan Cassidy Kenneth Collins Richard Cottrell Christine Crawley, Baroness Crawley Brendan Donnelly (politician) Diana Elles, Baroness Elles Michael Elliott Alex Falconer Jacqueline Foster Veronica Hardstaff Lyndon Harrison Michael Hindley Gloria Hooper, Baroness Hooper William Hopper (politician) Brian Hord Paul Howell Edward Kellett-Bowman Brian Key Bashir Khanbhai Michael Kilby Alfred Lomas Hugh McMahon Eryl McNally

Graham Mather Tom Megahy Bill Miller (Scotland) Robert Moreland Clive Needle Eddie Newman Christine Oddy Mo O'Toole Anita Pollack Charles Strachey, 4th Baron O'Hagan Ben Patterson Andrew Pearce Terry Pitt Christopher Prout James Provan Shelagh Roberts Barry Seal (politician) Madron Seligman Dr Alexander Sherlock Richard Simmonds Anthony Simpson Alex Smith (politician) Tom Spencer (politician) John Stevens (politician) Kenneth Stewart Jack Stewart-Clark Michael Tappin Frederick Tuckman Amédée Turner Alan Tyrrell Susan Waddington Mark Watts Norman West Ian White (politician) (Brief stub) Joe Wilson (European)

Monitoring links

1964 1966 1970 Feb 1974 Oct 1974 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005

Articles I would like to write or expand some day

• Crown Agents
• Lawless v Ireland, the first case heard by the European Court of Human Rights
• Sir Frank Newsam
• Evelyn Sharp, Baroness Sharp
• Jim Slater

Surviving MPs

The ten former MPs whose service dates back the furthest are:

Rank	Member	Date of first election
1	Michael Foot	26 July 1945
2	John Freeman	26 July 1945
3	Francis Noel-Baker	26 July 1945
4	Reader Harris	23 February 1950
5	Robert Carr	23 February 1950
6	Tony Benn	30 November 1950
7	Denis Healey	7 February 1952
8	Roy Mason	31 March 1953
9	John Eden	18 February 1954
10	James Ramsden	11 March 1954

Note that ties are broken by an examination of which MP took the oath of allegiance first. Thanks to Timrollpickering for this suggestion.

Barnstars

		The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
		I, Chrislk02, award you this barnstar for calming down with the recomended cup of tea when I got a little heated at WP:RFCN. It was very much appreciated. -- Chrislk02 (Chris Kreider) 20:37, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

[1]

		The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
		In recognition of your excellent anti-vandalism efforts, I award you this anti-vandal barnstar. Happy editing and keep up the great work! Lradrama 19:40, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

[2]

		The 25 DYK Medal
		Awarded to Sam Blacketer (rather belatedly) for his exceptional contributions to Did You Know? Thanks to your efforts, dozens of MPs not only have articles, but quite good ones, and its efforts like yours that help Wikipedia excel above and beyond. Keep up the good work! --JayHenry 23:55, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

[3]

		The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
		Thanks a lot for dealing with that IP on The Wave (board). It was almost blocked instantly after my AIV report. STORMTRACKER 94 22:03, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

[4]

This user repairs links to disambiguation pages.

This user writes for
The Signpost.

This user is an administrator on the English Wikipedia. (verify)

This user values third opinions and occasionally provides one.