Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2022 February 9

= February 9 =

Technical question, thanks
Hi. I make a trivial example; Jack Nicholson is considered by some the greatest living actor. Of course you can agree or disagree, this is not the point, but the fact that Nicholson himself has retired from the scenes, does this not undermine his "status" let's say? Thank you very much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.41.97.42 (talk) 16:12, 9 February 2022 (UTC)
 * This is a matter of opinion, of course, but I would say no. An accolade like 'greatest living actor' would be based on the past performances of actors that are still alive, regardless of whether or not those performances were recent.  In my view the accolade belongs to Robert De Niro, and the fact that he's done a fair few turkeys in recent years doesn't detract from the greatness of his earlier roles. --Viennese Waltz 16:16, 9 February 2022 (UTC)

Sure and in fact I wrote it; it's all debatable, of course. I personally would say Anthony Hopkins, but it's just my humble opinion. What counts is "being alive" in general, regardless of the works: past or not. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.41.97.42 (talk) 16:37, 9 February 2022 (UTC)


 * I would concur; the qualifier here is "living" actor. That means that the person must 1) be known as an actor and 2) be alive.  They don't actually have to be still acting.  Compare to "greatest working actor".  In that case, a retired actor would not qualify, since our qualifier is "working".  -- Jayron 32 17:25, 9 February 2022 (UTC)


 * Agreed. I was going to comment that the working actor term was old-fashioned and maybe more tied to safely excluding the aging stars from Hollywood's golden age back in the 70s and 80s when they were retired but still alive. However, Google ngrams tells me that's not the case at all. Interestingly enough, I also tried greatest living actor and the pattern is not at all what I would have guessed. Who died in 1849 and left the world such a barren place? Matt Deres (talk) 19:07, 9 February 2022 (UTC)


 * Has Nicholson declared his retirement, or has he just not worked for a while? --←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:34, 9 February 2022 (UTC)


 * A person who works in business is called a businessman. Once he retires, he no longer regards himself as a businessman, nor is he so regarded by others. He's a retiree. But actors who retire are not called retirees; they seem to retain their status as actors, even if qualified as "retired actor". Same with sportspeople. And politicians. Probably anyone who led a life in the public eye, and thus came to have their name indelibly associated with their profession. --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  21:52, 9 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Many mathematicians considered Alexander Grothendieck to be the greatest mathematician of the twentieth century, also after he became a recluse. Active 20th-century mathematicians who did not agree with that particular judgement still might agree he was the greatest retired mathematician of the twentieth century. :) --Lambiam 13:12, 10 February 2022 (UTC)
 * James Cagney is an example of an actor who retired but whose acting career was not over. --←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:55, 9 February 2022 (UTC)
 * A businessman who retires becomes a retired businessman. -- Jayron 32 13:04, 10 February 2022 (UTC)
 * In some sectors, they prefer the term "former farmer"! I know, pathetic. But by 1949 standards, come on, am I right? InedibleHulk (talk) 06:17, 11 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Here's Johnny!          MinorProphet (talk) 03:22, 12 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Who died in 1849? Marie Dorval, the love of George Sand's life, apparently. "J'aime le son du cor, le soir, au fond des bois..." Vas-y, Roland. MinorProphet (talk) 03:22, 12 February 2022 (UTC)

Voting system in the UK
How does the vote of no confidence work in the UK? Is it paper-based, i.e. paper ballot where you place a cross? If so it should be the same for the vote of confidence, and for the vote designating a candidate for the leadership of a Party. Is my reasoning correct? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.41.97.42 (talk) 17:28, 9 February 2022 (UTC)
 * See Motions of no confidence in the United Kingdom. WP:WHAAOE.  -- Jayron 32 17:35, 9 February 2022 (UTC)


 * The practical part of the vote is determined by members of the House of Commons voting by the lobby system. [More information on how that works here] Richard Avery (talk) 22:39, 9 February 2022 (UTC)


 * The leadership of a party is decided by the party itself.
 * The current system of electing the Leader of the Conservative Party consists of two stages:
 * • Conservative Members of Parliament select a choice of two candidates to present to the membership of the whole Party;
 * • Party members vote, on a "one member one vote" basis, for their preferred candidate from a shortlist of two.
 * Leadership elections: Conservative Party. Alansplodge (talk) 12:32, 10 February 2022 (UTC)


 * This process can be triggered like this:
 * Conservative Party MPs can initiate a no confidence vote in the leader when 15% (54 MPs) of Conservative MPs write to the chair of the party’s 1922 Committee (a committee representing backbench Conservative MPs).
 * This is quite different from a vote of no confidence in Parliament, in which all MPs can participate. Alansplodge (talk) 12:39, 10 February 2022 (UTC)


 * This confirms that the vote for a Conservative Party leader is indeed a secret ballot. Alansplodge (talk) 18:06, 10 February 2022 (UTC)
 * The current speculation is on the Conservative back-benchers calling a Vote of no Confidence in Boris Johnson as Conservative leader. Keir Starmer (Labour leader) could call one in Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. However, that is harder to get passed, and generally results in the Tory back-benchers railing around their PM. LongHairedFop (talk) 15:19, 13 February 2022 (UTC)
 * They've been railing at him quite a lot lately. Maybe you meant "rallying". --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  20:53, 13 February 2022 (UTC)
 * It's not railing around him he needs, it's a bloody great prison wall. DuncanHill (talk) 21:21, 13 February 2022 (UTC)