Wikipedia talk:WikiProject New Zealand/Election 2011 taskforce

New MP articles
One task that's identified is to 'create or update pages for new MPs'. There are clearly going to be some new MPs that, as yet, are not notable and don't have pages yet. Some new MPs are pretty likely, and the further down the list you are, the slimmer your chances. Usually, a bio would be created in userspace and then shifted into mainspace. I wonder whether it is permissible to create bios for the more likely contenders in this project space? It would obviously be most useful to be able to start on bios in a place where those interested in politics are likely to find them before they are ready, so that they can contribute.

Alternatively, we could volunteer somebody's userspace. I for one would be happy for my userspace to be used for that purpose. But the former method would certainly be my preference.  Schwede 66  06:03, 31 August 2011 (UTC)
 * I think within this Wikiproject space is best - we'd need plenty of pointers to a userspace anyway (if we put them there) and I don't think userspaces encourage participation so much. Fan  |  talk  14:00, 31 August 2011 (UTC)
 * I've set this up - see WikiProject New Zealand/politics/New MPs.  Schwede 66  12:03, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

Coverage of former MPs
In my eyes there are some Balance issues with some MPs who have resigned during this parliament (I'm thinking in particular of David Garrett (politician) and Richard Worth; we do a lot better with Darren_Hughes and Pansy_Wong, probably because of their reasonably sudden falls). I'd like to appeal to everyone to keep their eyes out for any coverage of or endorsements from their ex-MPs during the upcoming election. Any coverage of them that doesn't put their fall-from grace center-stage would be most appreciated. Stuartyeates (talk) 05:32, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

Photos
Just went off and voted. Took some photos of polling place, ballots etc and uploaded to commons commons:Category:2011 New Zealand election - SimonLyall (talk) 00:50, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the reminder. Took some photos the other day when I went to one of the pre-election day polling booths in Christchurch - a camper van!  Schwede 66  03:52, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Thanks to all
Thank you to all those who got the articles up to date before the election, wrote articles on people likely to become MPs, produced graphs and maps, obtained photos of MPs and election booths, and worked through the night to update everything with the preliminary results, while most of the country were celebrating/commiserating/catching up with old friends over a glass of bubbly. You make me so proud to be a Wikipedian.- gadfium 21:11, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, a stirling effort by everybody. Thanks from me, too.  Schwede 66  22:13, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Clearly we have a whole lot of work ahead for those who got elected (or thrown out). What about those who missed the cut but who were already notable for other activities? People like Annette Sykes? I'm thinking Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election? Stuartyeates (talk) 22:19, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a reasonable proposal to me.  Schwede 66  22:27, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Created by Stuart at Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the New Zealand general election, 2011 Mattlore (talk) 11:07, 27 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Can an admin please delete this page? Have turned it into a redirect, which will do the trick.  Schwede 66  18:38, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

Did you know?
... that 25 new MPs were elected to the 50th New Zealand Parliament, including Julie Anne Genter and Denise Roche (both Greens), Rino Tirikatene (Labour), Maggie Barry and Paul Goldsmith (both National), Richard Prosser and Denis O'Rourke (both NZ First)?

I thought that we should nominate the above hook with DYK. I'd like to get as many of the new MP articles nominated as possible in one multi-hook. The basic criteria for something to be acceptable to DYK are not too onerous to meet:
 * An article needs to have at least 1,500 bytes of prose.
 * An article needs to be new enough (usually up to 5 days, so we'll need to nominate on Friday or Saturday).
 * Each paragraph needs to have at least one reference.

That should be easy enough to meet, eh? Once we've got that in, I'll also start expanding the 50th Parliament article. When a five times expansion has been met within a 5-day period, it also qualifies (so don't expand that one until Friday, say). Below is a status report of the new MP articles.

How about we all try to bring one article up to scratch by Friday?  Schwede 66  18:20, 29 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Great stuff - this is going well.  Schwede 66  03:25, 1 December 2011 (UTC)