Talk:Michael Ellis (British politician)

Trivia

I am sure that Ellis does all sorts of things for his constituents, such as write to a car park owner. I suggest that they are not put in the article unless they affect a lot of people or are controversial. Similarly, one would question the inclusion of his everyday ministerial work such as export stops and such minor matters as planting trees. Also, providing first aid. It will be become a very long article if it is filled with such trivia. Jontel (talk) 18:00, 17 October 2019 (UTC)

Attorney General

Michael Ellis was appointed Attorney General today, when Suella Braverman was designated as a Minister on Leave. I'm not completely sure how to describe this in the infobox, but I'm wary of using terms like "Acting" which aren't being used anywhere else. In law, Ellis is now the Attorney General and Braverman occupies a different office. If the page as it is isn't satisfactory, then it would be great to have a discussion about it. FollowTheTortoise (talk) 18:17, 2 March 2021 (UTC)

I've just realised that I didn't update this talk page. Not long after leaving the above comment, I (I think?) added the "Acting" tag. I think that this best represents the current situation, even if Michael Ellis is, legally, just the Attorney General. FollowTheTortoise (talk) 21:23, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

I recently changed "Acting" to "Interim". Neither is true in law, but both are true in practice and I thought "Interim" was more accurate. I notice that an IP user has reverted both. In hindsight, this is probably for the best - in law, Ellis was just Attorney General even if it was well known that he was only so during Braverman's maternity leave! FollowTheTortoise (talk) 13:16, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

We've had similar issues in respect of Deputy Prime Ministers, I might add to my previous comments. Very few politicians have actually been appointed to the ministerial role of Deputy Prime Minister (and though perhaps clearer if you read several publications together, high profile publications do differ on exactly who these are), but more have acted as a deputy to a Prime Minister - the question then becomes what to put in the infobox for the latter. There's no clear solution, but the consensus (which though I have lent my support to in the past I have mixed feelings about today, for it is messy for several reasons) is to include Deputy Prime Minister when it is clear that they acted as deputy with a De facto tag in the infobox - see discussions here, here and here. FollowTheTortoise (talk) 13:24, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

References