Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2023 Mid Bedfordshire by-election


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was ‎__EXPECTED_UNCONNECTED_PAGE__ Keep. NYC Guru (talk) 09:47, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

2023 Mid Bedfordshire by-election

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

WP:CRYSTALBALL. There is no 2023 Mid Bedfordshire by-election sheduled. Despite her statements, this MP has not yet resigned, and it is unknown if she will actually do so in 2023 or at all before the next general election. Draftify this text until any such resignation occurs. LukeSurlt c 11:00, 28 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Agreed, and in its current form, the article isn't really about the not-scheduled by-election. It's about a lot of political shenanigans that might or might not cause a by-election. Once the dust has settled, it may be that some of this information is better included at Nadine Dorries (even if she doesn't formally resign), and if she does, we may need only a cut-down version here as "background" to the election. But until we know what's happening, we can't write anything. For the moment, draftify is sensible, with no prejudice against moving to main-space as soon as it happens. Elemimele (talk) 11:49, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Draftify if that's an option. We've got enough decent sources covering her announcement, her pause, her subsequent statements, and candidate selection, so it's a decent article in many ways. Deletion would be too harsh a sentence. doktorb wordsdeeds 12:57, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Drafity per above. Presently it's not official so it violates WP:CRYSTAL. — Czello (music) 13:00, 28 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Keep: an article, under WP:GNG, is justified by reliable source coverage of the topic. We have extensive reliable source coverage of a probable by-election (so WP:CRYSTAL does not apply). Yes, Dorries has delayed her resignation: she says it's only a temporary delay, although some others are sceptical, and parties have selected candidates and are campaigning. We could rename to Possible Mid Bedforshire by-election if that helps. But there is good material here and this is a sensible place for it to be. Good material should be in article space; draftifying does not achieve that. If the AfD decides to get rid of the article, the background stuff can be merged into Dorries' article, while the candidates/campaigning stuff can be merged into Mid Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency). Bondegezou (talk) 13:12, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Events, Politics,  and United Kingdom.  Spiderone (Talk to Spider) 19:54, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep per Bondegezou. Even if it doesn't end up happening, there is sufficient sourced encyclopaedic information that the article meets GNG and splitting that information over two or three other articles would not benefit readers in any fashion. Thryduulf (talk) 09:54, 29 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep - this election is likely to happen at some point. Moondragon21 (talk) 17:09, 29 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep. I read Wikipedia and have no interest in editing, so I know very little about the policies, beyond knowing that the spirit of Ignore All Rules is that policies exist with the intention of delivering outcomes that make sense. So I'll make an exception and participate here. Of the four by-election pages, this is easily the second most notable story behind Uxbridge - the other two resignations were relatively straightforward matters for their respective stated reasons. Dorries herself states that she is going to resign once she gets the answers she is seeking (which technically, as an MP, she can demand - if she writes to the appropriate minister whilst an MP she is entitled to receive a response in a timely manner). She has also suggested she will time her resignation to be as awkward as possible for the Conservatives.  The overwhelming evidence is that there will be a 2023 Mid-Bedfordshire by-election, and the absence of such an article would have the effect of giving undue levels of coverage relative to the overall topic on either the constituency page or Dorries' page, else a lack of appropriate coverage overall. I understand why this discussion was started, but to me the appropriate outcome seems obvious, and the better time to have this discussion is when there is a real reason to doubt the by-election taking place.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A00:23C8:B10E:8001:A505:CDE2:F065:C96D (talk) 23:27, 29 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Draftify until the MP officially resigns WP:CRYSTAL. There are instances where a candidate intends to resign, but changes their mind (Note to closer, if the MP does resign prior to the closing of the AFD, then the article should be kept). --Enos733 (talk) 17:27, 1 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Speedy keep for now. Firstly, we have never required a by-election to be scheduled or for a resignation to officially occur in order to create a by-election article, we have only required a resignation announcement and significant media affirmation of an upcoming by-election. Secondly, even in the remote chance that this by-election was not to be held, the hypothetical by-election is still itself a highly notable event per WP:GNG, with significant coverage in reliable sources, including at least one opinion poll. This is already a fairly popular article at 23,000 views over the last 18 days. WP:CRYSTAL applies to events which are only speculated to occur, and this is not the case here as reliable sources are stating that this by-election will happen. Onetwothreeip (talk) 23:02, 1 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep per Bondegezou and Onetwothreeip. I don’t think WP:CRYTSAL applies here and there is significant enough Coverage to keep the page. Speculating that Dorries won’t keep her word and trigger a by-election is the speculation. JamesVilla44 (talk) 17:05, 2 July 2023 (UTC)


 * Keep I am not aware of any case in recent years where an MP announced their intention to resign but changed their mind. As the article points out, candidates have been selected, polling has taken place. PatGallacher (talk) 17:24, 2 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Comment I don't have a problem with this material existing, but at the moment we have next to nothing about an election; we have a lot about a (non)resignation, which is definitely a notable story. We rightly titled our article on the Wallis Simpson affair Abdication of Edward VIII, not Coronation_of_George_VI_and_Elizabeth, a separate matter triggered by the former. I would be much happier if the "Background" section of this article were moved to something like Nadine Dorries resignation, and the routine stuff about results of previous election were delayed until there is an election to write about. Otherwise, if she doesn't resign, we're stuck for all eternity with an article about a major political event, hidden behind the name of a consequence that never happened. Elemimele (talk) 06:11, 3 July 2023 (UTC)
 * I count 617 words on Dorries' resignation to 260 words on candidates/campaigning/polling, which is more on the resignation, but not next to nothing on the election. Nothing will be stuck for all eternity. The outcome of this AfD does not bind us for all time. Obviously, we can respond to any future developments, e.g. should Dorries explicitly say she's not resigning, or if reliable source reporting indicates that the by-election is probably not going to happen, or if time ticks on and a by-election in 2023 versus 2024 becomes unclear. Bondegezou (talk) 08:01, 3 July 2023 (UTC)
 * @Elemimele@Bondegezou - I'd be happy to support an article move to Potential Mid Bedfordshire by-election while we wait. doktorb wordsdeeds 08:23, 3 July 2023 (UTC)
 * That seems like a good idea. LukeSurlt c 08:42, 3 July 2023 (UTC)
 * I'd be fine with that, though I do think it's still a little like writing about a traffic accident under the title "requirement for new motor vehicle"., you are of course right that we're not stuck with the title for all eternity - I shouldn't exaggerate. If she doesn't resign, we can always move the article to a title reflecting how the event is remembered. The resulting article could also, reasonably, have a paragraph on the election that the crisis would have engendered. Elemimele (talk) 10:29, 3 July 2023 (UTC)
 * A name tweak is a reasonable compromise if folk think all this content should remain in mainspace for now. It'll be an inherently temporary name, ultimately either ending up at 2023 Mid Bedfordshire by-election, 2024 Mid Bedfordshire by-election, or quietly being merged into a subsection of the Nadine Dorries article after the announcement of the next general election. Perhaps I'm more cynical than most, but I feel there's a fair chance of this latter scenario. LukeSurlt c 14:28, 3 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Not firmly against this compromise but it feels pointless if it means another discussion like this to rename it back? It feels to me that the entry point to rename would be should there be serious doubt about this by-election taking place, given that the rationale for keeping is that there aren't sources which cast serious doubt on a 2023 by-election? 2A00:23C8:B10E:8001:5FC7:E492:DABA:8588 (talk) 06:03, 4 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep, but retitle to either 'Potential' or 'Future' Mid Bedfordshire by-election as there is no guarantee it will take place this year. If the by-election doesn't happen, there is still precedent that an article exists on the expected one - see 2017 Manchester Gorton by-election as an example. OGBC1992 (talk) 14:16, 3 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep per comments by Bondegezou and others - this has certainly attracted enough media coverage, and even if the election never happens should stay thus.  Frzzl  talk  · contribs   18:47, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
 * Keep, I do expect that eventually Dorries will be forced to resign because she said she was going to, and to abandon doing so shows she has no regard for her constituents, but how long that might take who knows. However I guess the saga of her resigning and then not actually resigning is worthy of an article in its own right. gbrading  (ταlκ) 09:49, 6 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep but possibly retitle, agree with OGBC1992. Article is solid and a lot of work's been put into it. Blythwood (talk) 02:22, 7 July 2023 (UTC)