John Grenville Bernard Watson (born 21 February 1943) is a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Parliamentary career

After fighting

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in the

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...

and October 1974 elections, Watson was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Air ...

from 1979 to 1983, and for

Skipton and Ripon Skipton and Ripon is a constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Julian Smith, a Conservative. Constituency profile The constituency covers a mainly rural area of the Yorkshire Da ...

from 1983 to 1987 when he stood down. His successor was

David Curry David Maurice Curry (born 13 June 1944) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Skipton and Ripon from 1987 to 2010. Early life Curry, the son of teachers, was educated at the Ripon Grammar School ...

. Since 2010 the seat has been represented by Julian Smith.

After Parliament

After retiring from Parliament in 1987 Watson became Chief Executive of Johnsen and Jorgensen plc. In 1990 he joined Goddard Kay Rodgers as an Executive Search Consultant and also helped to form BKW Public Relations Ltd. Between 1992 and 1997 he was Chief Executive of Bradford City Challenge. In 1997 he joined the Board of the Yorkshire Building Society until his retirement in 2005. He also became Chairman of the Bradford Community NHS Trust. Following his retirement in 2005 he was elected to represent the

Boroughbridge Boroughbridge () is a town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-west of the county town of York. Until a bypass was built the town lay on the mai ...

division on

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is the county council governing the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire; an area composing most of North Yorkshire in England. The council currently consists of 90 councillors. The council is current ...

.North Yorkshire County Council site
He retired from the Council in 2013, having also served for three years as the Council's Deputy Leader. He was Chairman of NYnet Ltd between 2013 and 2019 and remains a Director of Partnership Investment Finance Ltd. He is the owner of Bay Horse Marketing Services Ltd and, in that capacity, is the editor of The Switzerland Alternative. He was appointed an OBE in 2009, upon the recommendation of John Prescott MP, for service to Urban Regeneration.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983'' *

External links

* 1943 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Officers of the Order of the British Empire UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1940s-stub