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 delete. j⚛e decker ^talk 01:14, 25 June 2014 (UTC) reply

Walter Leslie Dingley (  | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – ( View log · Stats)

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Apparently non-notable local politician. Fails WP:POLITICIAN, with no evidence so far of substantial coverage.

This was PRODded by User:PatGallacher, but I contested the PROD and am sending it to AFD because his receipt of an OBE does suggest that he may be notable, either for his career in local government or on hospital boards.

I checked The Times archive, where I found 3 letters to the editor from Dingley, but no editorial coverage of him. However, editors with access to to Birmingham or Warwickshire local papers may find something ... which is why I thought that this deserved a full AFD. BrownHairedGirl (talk) • ( contribs) 13:12, 17 June 2014 (UTC) reply

Note: This debate has been included in the list of England-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k ( talk) 13:47, 17 June 2014 (UTC) reply

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k ( talk) 13:47, 17 June 2014 (UTC) reply

• Delete The highest office he held was alderman, but these are ten a penny, and he was a parliamentary candidate three times, but there is agreement that this does not confer notability. PatGallacher ( talk) 00:22, 18 June 2014 (UTC) reply
  • @ PatGallacher: Sure, the office and the candidacies do not confer a presumption of notability. However, the average alderman or failed candidate does not get an OBE.
    The fact that he got an OBE implies that he did a lot more than the offices imply, which is why I would like to see some checks of Birmingham or Warwickshire sources to see if there is more coverage of him. Have you been able to do any such checks? -- BrownHairedGirl (talk) • ( contribs) 19:03, 18 June 2014 (UTC) reply
    • Actually it's pretty common for long-serving local councillors to get OBEs. He apparently specifically received it for "services to Hospital Boards in Birmingham", which suggests he was probably also a long-serving member of one of them. -- Necrothesp ( talk) 23:20, 18 June 2014 (UTC) reply
• Delete -- He clearly fails WP:POLITICIAN. Peterkingiron ( talk) 19:27, 22 June 2014 (UTC) reply
• Local city or county councillors do not qualify for Wikipedia articles just for existing, per WP:POLITICIAN, nor do unelected candidates for higher office — and according to the main article on the Order of the British Empire, it's the most junior and most populous class of the British honours system, so it cannot automatically confer encyclopedic notability on every single person named to it. Certainly if he'd been knighted, then he'd qualify for an article regardless of his failure to pass POLITICIAN — but for an OBE, the basic notability of his original career still has to pass muster to get him in here. Delete unless much better sourcing can be added. Bearcat ( talk) 20:22, 22 June 2014 (UTC) reply
  • Just to clarify, OBE does not stand for "Order of the British Empire" but for "Officer of the Order of the British Empire", the second lowest of the five grades of that order. We have generally held that the three highest grades (GBE, KBE/DBE, CBE) do provide inherent notability under WP:ANYBIO #1, but the two lowest (OBE, MBE) do not. -- Necrothesp ( talk) 09:49, 23 June 2014 (UTC) reply

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. 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.