Talk:Rachel Reeves

Tags

This is a marker to allow discussion on tags for this article. I think the notability tag is reasonable, but I see no evidence to suggest that the article:

1. requires many more references - it seems well referenecd to me
2. has been editted by anyone with a COI
3. has been editted by the subject.

It seems to me that adding these "unnecessary" tags is unhelpful to the reader. But I may be wrong. Let's discuss it here. I think there's been too many reversions, and a discussion is better than the existing edit war. MikeHobday (talk) 21:25, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Mike the biggest problem with this article is that its written as a party political intended to sell its subject, not as an encyclopedia biography, and who also it appears is its main author. There are also several other problems with this article but I'm confining myself to a fast reply here just to address the tagging issue you object to. I'd ask you to notify the orginal person to place the tag on, Wereon of this discussion and I hope you will re-instate the tag as is normal while we discuss it here. - Galloglass 23:36, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

The primary content editor is User:Pinkhandbag (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs) who has edited no other articles on Wikipedia, looks like a COI to me. –– Jezhotwells (talk) 07:29, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

If there are additional issues with the article, I'd welcome you boldly editting the article or adding appropriate tags. Wereon added the notability tag which is still on the article, and which I do not dispute. I agree that it should stay there pending any discussion. But Wereon hasn't added the three tags listed above, so I don't plan to solicit his involvement either way. My dispute is a narrow one, focussing on the three tags above. Jezhotwells suggests there is a case for the COI tag, but no one has yet suggested evidence for the other two tags. I've missed the policy that says that disputed tags should remain on an article pending a talk page discussion, but I'll obviously abide by policy. MikeHobday (talk) 20:14, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

Google Plus

Google Plus is known to vet the identities of notable people. Therefore a Google Plus profile counts as a verifiable self-published source and can be used for non-selfserving, non-cntentious information about the subject herself. Yworo (talk) 20:56, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for that. It still isn't much use for claims about a residence though due to the self published aspect, there have been more than enough controversies about politicians' homes in recent years.--Shakehandsman (talk) 21:07, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

Poorly Sourced Material

I notice that Shakehandsman keeps adding back information on this page that I first removed because the link to information about her spouse linked to a page that contained no such information. The link that has replaced this is not what could be considered a hugely reliable source, especially considering the rules surrounding biographies of living people, and I can find no reliable, verifiable information on the web to back the given citation up. Even if the information about her husband is correct, I am not sure why the extra information then added about his person is relevant to Reeves biography page? This just does not seem to meet the guidelines of biographies of a living person:

"Must be very neutral in tone and contents, and written with regard to the highest quality of fairness and sourcing, beyond the normal standard.

Anyone may delete biography-related material that is unsourced, poorly-sourced, or otherwise unreasonable for a biography. This includes contact information, and also includes sensitive personal matters such as religion and sexuality (unless relevant and verifiable). "

I am happy for people to remove some links I added if they found these were not reliable, as happened. I was just trying to add references to sections that were poorly referenced or had requested a citation but I find it slightly perturbing that people are removing my links, giving the reason that they are unnecessary/unreliable but then adding a link in the same vein.

Looking at the user history I can see that Shakehandsman has made a great many revisions on this page, which makes me consider some sort of COI here. Would appreciate other users who have edited the page in the past offering opinion. I'd rather not get into some sort of editing war but I feel these revisions are breaking guidelines. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.31.42.10 (talk) 21:00, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

FYI I have made thousands of edits to Wikipedia so the percentage to this article is tiny. One reason I've had to spend more time than I'd like editing this page is to deal with various editors in the past adding material promotional in tone breaching NPOV. The Marlborough news source is in fact very different to the type of sources you are using. It is a neutral organisation, which abides by the editors code of practice and by Press Complaints Commission standards. Given Reeves' role in shadow treasury matters her husband's work is all the more relevant, though it would still merit some mention even if she was a backbench MP with no shadow treasury role. The material I removed which you had added was either of self-published sources, and Labour Party blogs, both of which should be avoided. Finally, making COI accusations is a very serious affair you should be assuming good faith about other editors so I strongly suggest you retract that allegation as I've edited here for 5 years with an unblemished record.--Shakehandsman (talk) 21:36, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

In order to avoid any doubt on this matter I've asked for the input of those with more expertise on these matters at the reliable sources noticeboard. The discussion can be found here [1] and the verdict is that the Marlborough News is a registered company run by professional jourmalists and entirely suitable for use on Wikipedia (and most certainly not a blog). I shall therefore be restoring the content and editors should refrain from removing it unless a differing consensus emerges.--Shakehandsman (talk) 23:25, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

Wedding cakes

It's hardly significant information anyway, but does she enjoy them (as stated) or make them? 14:56, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

I have removed the reference to wedding cakes and flower arranging - I checked the Hansard record in the reference and from the context it was clearly a humorous comment in response to a comment by another MP about her own upcoming wedding that she was busy preparing for. As her wedding is now past and there is no indication that she has a broader interest in wedding cakes beyond her own wedding, it seems clear that this information is no longer relevant. Pbrione (talk) 16:18, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

U14 chess champion

An ip editor has a bee in his/her bonnet about Reeves and chess. They have removed referenced information about Reeves' chess championship 3 times today, first (falsely) claiming that the references didn't support the content, and most recently by claiming that Reeves doesn't appear on the ECF list. Reeves was U14 British Women's Chess Association (BWCA) champion. See the following reliable secondary sources:

• Yorkshire Chess: "She started playing chess at the age of seven and became BWCA U14 Champion."
• The Guardian: "Here are 10 interesting facts about the Labour shadow cabinet member. 1) She was the UK U14 girls chess champion."
• The Guardian: "Far more interesting, however, is that she was also once under-14 UK girls chess champion..."
• The Times: "...Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and a former under-14s UK girls chess champion, has challenged him to a game."
• Financial Times: "A former under-14 UK girls chess champion, she is intellectually self-confident and has occasional flashes of temper, according to colleagues."
• BBC: "They include shadow cabinet minister Rachel Reeves, the former British girls under-14 chess champion."
• Total Politics: "Inspired by a teacher at primary school, Reeves first picked up a pawn when she was seven. No mean player, she was national under-14 champion (she thinks her Dad has the trophy somewhere) and can still play to a high level."
• The Independent: "During the series, which will be broadcast over a week, Lawson's guests and opponents will include the shadow Cabinet minister, Rachel Reeves, who is a former British girls under-14 champion; former Soviet dissident and Israeli politician Natan Sharansky; writer and former homeless alcoholic John Healy; Women's World Champion Hou Yifan from China – and Lennox Lewis, who I am told is a good club player."
• Daily Mail: "One of my five opponents, Rachel Reeves - the former national girls' under-14 chess champion, now better known as Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary - got a little cross about this process during our game."
• Ethos Journal: "Andrew Sparrow profiles the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury – the one-time under-14 UK girls chess champion who may just checkmate the coalition."
• Fabian Society: "Reeves, who comes from a relatively humble background, went to a south London comprehensive, where she excelled at maths and became the British under-14 girls chess champion."

Blackberry Sorbet (talk • contribs) 20:29, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Okay the 'official' list on the English Chess Federation website http://www.englishchess.org.uk/british-champions-1904-present/ does not include RR's name. Is this an oversight or their part or is this another myth like the famous JPR Williams being Junior Wimbledon Champion in 1966 one, which has been regularly repeated by 'reliable' sources for decades? (86.147.196.102 (talk) 14:44, 19 February 2014 (UTC))