Talk:Frank Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead

Untitled
The article rather implies that Field's late night chat with Mrs Thatcher was crucial to her deciding to relinquish the Premiership and support John Major. Is there any evidence to support this? Field is a great admirer of Thatcher it is true (despite the damage he feels her policies did to his constituency) but I doubt if she has the same opinon of him. Her resignation was largely triggered by pressure within the Conservative high ranks and, as she would not support Heseltine who had challenged her, or Hurd who was an example of the old-school Tory liberal Grandee she couldn't stand, then ex-grammar school boy Major would get the nod

Richard Slack

Really?
"Born in London with a violent father..."

Is this true?

Even if so, what does it have to do with anything?

WikiReaderer 16:15, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Publications list
The publications list to me is ridiculously large, especially for an article of this size. Anyone object if I delete it, adding a comment in the body that he is a prolific writer? Rwendland (talk) 09:01, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm not a native English speaker but can someone change the following sentence. There are a lot of spelling mistakes in at and maybe it has to be checked.

"In 2008 he appeared in an episode of the white season on BBC 2 about the rivers of blood speech stating that a lot of people are migrating from the united kingdom and the main reason is because the don't like what has happened to the uk." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.118.17.52 (talk) 22:45, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

External links modified
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Requested move 24 July 2018

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: Not moved The Duke of Nonsense What is necessary for thee?. 10:55, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Frank Field (British politician) → Frank Field – Only the British MP and the meteorologist seem to have any major notability today, but the former gets three times as many hits. They've both been around for a very long time, so recentism isn't a factor here.|Frank_Field_(meteorologist)|Frank_Field_(Worcestershire_cricketer)|Frank_Field_(British_politician)|Frank_Field_(footballer)|Frank_Field_(cricketer,_born_1874)|Frank_Field_(Australian_politician)|Frank_H._Field Unreal7 (talk) 12:02, 24 July 2018 (UTC)


 * Oppose target is a dab page. And common name. In ictu oculi (talk) 16:03, 24 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Oppose, as per In ictu oculi. Assume there is no way to make this article Frank Field and also have a DAB page. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:16, 24 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Oppose per In ictu oculi and Martinevans123. Not an internationally renowned political figure.   Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 02:49, 25 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Oppose Statistics show more page views but most days the difference is not much. The increased views for this article on some days could be because of mentions or links somewhere such as news so would be recentism. Peter James (talk) 16:58, 25 July 2018 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Vote on no confidence July 2018
Note that the constituency vote, which took place on Friday 27 July, "... does not carry any official force, but constituency party members could seek a trigger ballot that would have the potential to deselect Field.":. Currently Field is still the legally elected representative for Birkenhead. Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 17:15, 29 July 2018 (UTC)

Wondering whether to step down
It was on the news this morning (Friday August 31 2018) that Frank Field has been wondering whether to step down as an M.P., and thus trigger a by-election. This means that this article needs to be watched carefully to be updated. Vorbee (talk) 07:34, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

Party in infobox
There have been a few different iterations of Field's party field in the infobox since the announcement of his resigning the Labour whip. So far we've had:

Independent Labour MP (since 2018) Sits as an Independent Labour MP in the House of Commons (since 30 August 2018) Sits as an Independent MP in the House of Commons (since 30 August 2018) Sits as an independent MP in the House of Commons (since 30 August 2018)
 * 1) Labour (until 2018)
 * 2) Labour (until 2018) Independent
 * 3) Labour (member)  Independent Labour (MP)
 * 4) Independent  (with Labour in 'otherparty')
 * 5) Labour (member)  Independent (MP)
 * 6) Labour (Labour MP 1979 – 30 August 2018; Member of the Labour Party since circa 1960)  Independent (Independent Labour) MP (since 30 August 2018)
 * 7) Labour (member)
 * 1) Labour (member)
 * 1) Labour (member)
 * 1) Labour (member)

Given the number of ways the same information has been expressed, I thought it'd be worth establishing a consensus here.

Some of these (1, 2, 4) don't include that Field is still a Labour member. Some (2, 4, 5, 9, 10) describe him as an independent, while others (3, 7, 8) describe him as "Independent Labour", which is how Field identifies himself, and one (6) describes him as "Independent (Independent Labour)". Some use the precise date that Field resigned the whip, and some include more text.

The purpose of an infobox, per WP:INFOBOXPURPOSE is to summarise the article's material, and should include minimal information. I don't think "sits in the House of Commons" is worth including, or the precise date. My preference is for the configuration in (7), though I can see that there's a good case to both "Independent" and "Independent Labour". Interested to hear other editors' views! Ralbegen (talk) 10:08, 31 August 2018 (UTC)


 * All a bit premature before his decision on whether to resign? Martinevans123 (talk) 10:19, 31 August 2018 (UTC)


 * Much too soon. Just wait'n'see what he decides to do next. &#8209; &#8209; Gareth Griffith&#8209;Jones&#160;The Welsh Buzzard &#8209; &#8209; 14:09, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
 * That's fair enough. Something to revisit in a few days. Ralbegen (talk) 14:32, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
 * Yep he has hinted that he may call a by election in which case his position may become more clear in the following weeks Greenleader(2) (talk) 15:34, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
 * A by-election would help clarify the true opinion in his constituency on Brexit, rather than Field. &#8209; &#8209; Gareth Griffith&#8209;Jones&#160;The Welsh Buzzard &#8209; &#8209; 09:20, 1 September 2018 (UTC)

Added Template:Current person 31 August 2018
I've added Template:Current person for Field's resignation of the Labour Party whip. --The Vintage Feminist (talk) 11:37, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
 * I've removed the template - the news cycle in the UK has moved on, thanks! Mechimp (talk) 23:41, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

Birkenhead Social Justice Party
The Birkenhead Social Justice Party is not currently listed as a party with any seats on the official House of Commons website, nor can I find its registration details on the Electoral Commission website. Fields' statements seem to suggest this is a label under which he will contest the next general election, and don't imply that he has immediately become a BSJ MP. I will edit to this effect. --LukeSurlt c 12:15, 4 October 2019 (UTC)

Terminal illness
He's just announced that he's terminally ill, presumably with cancer: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/oct/22/uk-covid-live-booster-jabs-cases-data-jcvi-latest-updates

I won't modify the article until more info emerges. --Ef80 (talk) 11:02, 22 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Better ref: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/22/former-mp-frank-field-reveals-he-is-dying-at-euthanasia-bill-reading --Ef80 (talk) 12:42, 22 October 2021 (UTC)