Directory:David Boothroyd
David Boothroyd (born November 9, 1972) is noteworthy for a scandal he perpetrated on Wikipedia. He is a councillor for Westminster's Westbourne ward. He previously worked for John Battle, MP for Leeds West, and was as a research assistant for Ian Lucas, MP for Wrexham, after the 2001 general election. As a member of the council's planning committee, he condemned ordinances prohibiting gay businesses from flying the rainbow flag[1][2] and was the sole dissenting vote in a resolution calling for the removal of graffiti by well-known British artist Banksy.[3]
Government lobbyist
He is the Head of Research and Office for Indigo Public Affairs, a company specializing in urban regeneration schemes and lobbying for planning consent, where he edited the company elections blog and councils list.
Wikipedia scandal
He created controversy in 2009 when it was discovered that he edited Wikipedia under the user names Dbiv, Fys, and Sam Blacketer and eventually became part of the site's policy-enforcing Arbitration Committee. After earning Administrator status with one account, then being de-sysopped for inappropriate use of the admin tools, Boothroyd regained Administrator status with the "Sam Blacketer" sockpuppet account. A Labour Party member, after being sleuthed out by Wikipedia Review contributor, "Tarantino", Boothroyd outted himself for having used sockpuppets in the course of obtaining his position and for having edited the article of Conservative Party leader David Cameron.[4]
"Sick as a parrot"
Boothroyd also used the untraced, pseudonymous "Sam Blacketer" account to hurl aspersions at Gregory Kohs, the founder of MyWikiBiz. On a mailing list maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation, Boothroyd sneered, "I hope Greg Kohs is sick as a parrot." When reprimanded for this being a gratuitous comment, Boothroyd only upped the ante from behind his protective cloak of fake identity, saying that both MyWikiBiz's business transactions and content were "not ethical".
Written works
He is the author of United Kingdom Election Results and Politico's Guide to The History of British Political Parties, a guide to British elections since 1832.
London Westminster Westbourne Labour United Kingdom UK David Boothroyd Dbiv Fys Sam Blacketer David Boothroyd Dave Boothroyd Wikipedia Fraud Sockpuppet Dbiv Fys Sam Blacketer Sick as a parrot
See also
References
- ^ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Norvell, Scott (June 06, 2005). "Rainbow Ruckus". Fox News. Retrieved 2009-05-27. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ^ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Barkham, Patrick (4 June 2005). "Council bans gay firms from flying the flag". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
- ^ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Logan, Liz (29 October 2008). "Banksy Defends His Guerrilla Graffiti Art". Time.com. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
- ^ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Metz, Cade (26 May 2009). "Sockpuppeting British politico resigns from Wikisupremecourt". The Register. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
External links
- United Kingdom Election Results, Boothroyd's personal web site
- City of Westminster Councillor Details: David Boothroyd
- Members' Register of Interests
