David Leonard Watts, Baron Watts (born 26 August 1951) is a British politician and life peer who served in the Blair and Brown governments as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from 2005 to 2010 and chaired the Parliamentary Labour Party as a backbencher from 2012 to 2015. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for St Helens North from 1997 to 2015.
The Lord Watts | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 15 March 2012 – 9 February 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Ed Miliband | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Tony Lloyd | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | John Cryer | ||||||||||||||||||
| Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 10 May 2005 – 11 May 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | John Heppell | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Angela Watkinson | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 August 1951 St Helens, England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
Avril Davies (m. 1972) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
Early life
editWatts was educated at Malvern Primary School and Huyton Hey Secondary Modern School, Huyton. He was leader of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council for four years. He was a union official at Huntley & Palmers' biscuit factory in Huyton.
Parliamentary career
editWatts was a Government Whip and Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury from 2008 to 2010. On 15 March 2012, he was elected to succeed Tony Lloyd as the Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party, a role he performed until he stood down to be replaced by John Cryer on 9 February 2015.[1] He stood down at the 2015 General Election.[2] Watts is associated with[vague] the Labour Friends of Israel.[3]
Watts was nominated for a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours.[4] On 23 October 2015, he was created Baron Watts, of Ravenhead in the County of Merseyside, for life.[5] By virtue of that life peerage, he became a member of the House of Lords. He entered the House of Lords on 3 December 2015 continuing to sit under the Labour whip.
Personal life
editWatts married Avril Davies in 1972, with whom he has two sons.
References
edit- ^ "John Cryer Is The New Chair Of The PLP". LabourList. 9 February 2015.
- ^ "Dave Watts To Stand Down As St Helens North MP". St Helens Star. 3 January 2015.
- ^ "2014 11 – Parliamentary Notes". Labour Affairs Magazine. November 2014.
- ^ "Dissolution Peerages 2015". Gov.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ^ "No. 61394". The London Gazette. 29 October 2015. p. 21238.