Mark Simmonds

Article summary

Mark Jonathon Mortlock Simmonds (born 12 April 1964) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Boston and Skegness in Lincolnshire, and was first elected in 2001, succeeding Sir Richard Body. He was re-elected in 2005 and 2010. In September 2012 he was appointed to the Government as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific. On 11 August 2014 he resigned this post and confirmed that he would step down as an MP at the 2015 general election. In October 2015, he was appointed non-executive director of the AIM-listed fertiliser company, African Potash. On 6 January 2020, Simmonds was appointed a non-executive director of the AIM-listed African oil exploration company, LEKOIL, a week before the company announced that it had been the victim of a US$184m fraud.

Key claims

1. date of birth: 1964-04-12 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of birth: 1986 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
3. date of birth: 1999 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of birth is "1964-04-12". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of birth is "1986". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the date of birth is "1999". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
6. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378210823