The Lord Watts | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Chair of theParliamentary 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 | (1951-08-26)26 August 1951 (age 74) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
David Leonard Watts, Baron Watts (born 26 August 1951) is a British politician andlife peer who served in the Blair and Brown governments as aLord Commissioner of the Treasury from 2005 to 2010 and chaired theParliamentary Labour Party as a backbencher from 2012 to 2015. A member of theLabour Party, he wasMember of Parliament (MP) forSt Helens North from1997 to2015.
Watts was educated at Malvern Primary School and Huyton Hey Secondary Modern School,Huyton. He was leader ofSt Helens Metropolitan Borough Council for four years. He was a union official atHuntley & Palmers' biscuit factory in Huyton.
Watts was aGovernment Whip andLord Commissioner of HM Treasury from 2008 to 2010. On 15 March 2012, he was elected to succeedTony Lloyd as theChair of the Parliamentary Labour Party, a role he performed until he stood down to be replaced byJohn Cryer on 9 February 2015.[1] He stood down at the2015 General Election.[2] Watts is associated with[vague] theLabour Friends of Israel.[3]
Watts was nominated for alife peerage in the2015 Dissolution Honours.[4] On 23 October 2015, he was created Baron Watts, ofRavenhead in theCounty of Merseyside, for life.[5] By virtue of thatlife peerage, he became a member of theHouse of Lords. He entered the House of Lords on 3 December 2015 continuing to sit under the Labour whip.
Watts married Avril Davies in 1972, with whom he has two sons.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSt Helens North 1997–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theParliamentary Labour Party 2012–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Gentlemen Baron Watts | Followed by |
