Robert Elwyn James Watkins (born 29 October 1963 in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

), is a British

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

politician. He narrowly lost to Labour Party candidate

Phil Woolas Philip James Woolas (born 11 December 1959) is a British environmental consultant, political lobbyist and former television producer and politician who served as Minister of State for Borders and Immigration from 2008 to 2010. A member of the ...

for the

Oldham East and Saddleworth Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, whic ...

seat in the 2010 general election, but the result was overturned by an election court,Judges order election re-run in ex-minister's seat
BBC News 2010-11-05 which found that Woolas had knowingly lied about Watkins' personal character. Watkins had stood down as a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

representing Healey Ward on Rochdale Council in order to contest the general election. He was selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the constituency in late 2007. In 2008, during his time as a Rochdale councillor, Watkins said he was planning to seek legal advice after Phil Woolas' election agent suggested he had "abandoned his constituents and moved to the Middle East to work for a multi-billionaire sheikh".

Oldham East & Saddleworth court case

Watkins received significant media coverage in November 2010 after his petition against the return of

resulted in the general election result being declared void. Woolas was disqualified from holding elected office for three years. He failed to get the decision overturned and so a by-election for the Oldham East and Saddleworth seat was called which was won by Labour's

Debbie Abrahams Deborah Angela Elspeth Marie Abrahams (' Morgan; born 15 September 1960) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Oldham East and Saddlewor ...

. Before the judgement, Watkins had said he would quit politics if his petition against the general election result was unsuccessful.

References

External links

* 1963 births Living people Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates Alumni of the London School of Economics People from Rochdale Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Councillors in Greater Manchester {{England-politician-stub