Michael Goodall Watson, Baron Watson of Invergowrie (born 1 May 1949), is a British Labour Party politician and

arsonist Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, water ...

. He has served in two legislatures in the United Kingdom and served as Minister for Culture and Sport in the Scottish Executive Cabinet. Watson was expelled from his party on 22 September 2005 following his conviction and imprisonment for fire-raising at Prestonfield House, but was re-admitted to the Labour Party in July 2012. He currently sits as a Labour member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

and is an Associate Director of the Edinburgh public affairs and communications company Caledonia Consulting. On 18 September 2015, the new Labour leader

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...

appointed Watson as Education spokesman in the House of Lords.Fraser Nelson
Jeremy Corbyn appoints convicted arsonist Mike Watson as his education spokesman
at spectator.co.uk dated 18 September 2015

Early life

Watson was born in

Cambuslang Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...

South Lanarkshire gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas , image_skyline = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg , image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg , blank_emblem_type = Council logo , image_map ...

, but his family moved to Invergowrie,

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland ...

when he was very young. He was educated at Invergowrie Primary School, the High School of Dundee and

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

, Edinburgh, graduating with a B.A. Hons in Economics and

Industrial Relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

in 1974. Prior to entering politics Watson worked as a tutor/organiser for the Workers' Educational Association and in the trade union movement, for the

Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) was a British trade union which existed between 1969 and 1988. History The ASTMS was created in 1969 when ASSET (the Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Techn ...

(ASTMS) and the

Manufacturing, Science and Finance Manufacturing, Science and Finance (or the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union; almost exclusively known as MSF) was a trade union in Britain. Over eighty members of Parliament (primarily members of the Labour Party) were members. Histor ...

union (MSF).

Political career

Watson was elected to the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

as the

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 o ...

(MP) for Glasgow Central at a by-election in 1989, following the death of Bob McTaggart MP. He was re-elected in the 1992 election and represented that constituency until it was abolished in 1997. He sought the nomination from the Labour party to run for the

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south b ...

seat at the 1997 election, but after initially winning the nomination by one vote, he lost a re-run to Mohammad Sarwar. On 6 November 1997, he was created a

Life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

age as Baron Watson of Invergowrie, of Invergowrie in

. In 1999 Lord Watson was elected as the

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The add ...

(MSP) for the Glasgow Cathcart constituency and was re-elected in 2003. On 20 July 1999 Watson announced his intention to introduce the ''Protection of Wild Mammals'' bill as a member's bill to the Scottish Parliament to outlaw

fox hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...

. The bill passed a vote 83–36 on 13 February 2002 and received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

on 15 March, becoming the

Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 The Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act is an Act of the Scottish Parliament passed in February 2002, making Scotland the first part of the United Kingdom to ban traditional fox hunting and hare coursing. Passage of the Act The bill was int ...

and becoming law on 1 August. This was a precursor to the

Hunting Act 2004 The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; ...

banning fox hunting in England and Wales. When

Jack McConnell Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister fo ...

became

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

in 2001, Watson entered the Scottish Executive as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport. He left the Executive in 2003, having lost his position in a reshuffle after the 2003 election. He subsequently became deputy convener of the enterprise and culture committee. On 15 November 2004, Watson was charged with wilful fire raising, and the Labour whip was withdrawn from him in the Holyrood and Westminster parliaments. On 1 September 2005 he admitted the offence and resigned from the Scottish Parliament. Watson was also expelled from the Labour Party when the sentence was announced. After serving a prison sentence he was released in May 2006. In January 2007 Watson was appointed as an Associate Director with Caledonia Consulting, while also attending the House of Lords on a regular basis. Watson was re-admitted to membership of the Labour Party in July 2012, after a vote of the National Executive Committee. In September 2015,

appointed Watson as the Labour spokesman on education in the Lords.

Fire-raising conviction

On 15 November 2004, Lord Watson was charged with two counts of " wilful fire raising" after a private reception at

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

's Prestonfield Hotel following the

Scottish Politician of the Year Scottish Politician of the Year is an annual award established in 1999. It is held by '' The Herald'' newspaper in Prestonfield House, Edinburgh. Although the awards ceremony has been held once at the Royal Museum, Prestonfield House Hotel is co ...

awards on 11 November. The first alleged that he set fire to a curtain in the hotel's reception, and the second that he set fire to a curtain in the hotel's Yellow Room. On being charged, the Labour

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...

was suspended in the Holyrood and Westminster parliaments. After initially registering not guilty pleas to both charges on 23 August 2005, he changed his plea on 1 September to guilty on the first count, and had a not guilty plea accepted on the second charge. On the same day that Lord Watson admitted his guilt, he resigned from the Scottish Parliament. He resigned as a director of Dundee United Football Club. It was not possible for a life peer to resign from the

at that time and there was no provision for peers convicted of criminal offences to be stripped of their titles. Such legislation was last proposed following the conviction of

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...

for

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

in 2001, but rejected. The House of Lords Reform Act 2014 made resignation possible. On 22 September 2005, Lord Watson was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment. Sheriff Kathrine Mackie justified the sentence, stating that there was both "a significant risk of re-offending" and that Lord Watson offered no explanation. She also told Lord Watson that consumption of alcohol "neither excuses nor fully explains your behaviour". The sentence was reduced from 20 months to 16 because Watson had pleaded guilty before the case reached trial. Watson appealed against his sentence on 23 March 2006 but the appeal judges refused to cut the term, and he was returned to prison. After serving half of his sentence (eight months), he was released on 23 May 2006.

Views on Jeremy Corbyn

In an interview with

The House magazine ''The House'' is a weekly political magazine relating to the British Houses of Parliament, published by Dod's Parliamentary Communications. History and profile It was founded in 1976 by MPs including Mike Thomas, Richard Faulkner and Patrick C ...

in March 2017, Lord Watson was asked whether Labour could win a UK general election under

. He said: "Probably not. There are trends there that suggest we're not getting through and the result in Copeland certainly suggested that, so it will be difficult to turn that around. But we shouldn't underestimate the extent to which the government can get into difficulties over the European Union exit negotiations. It's not going to be anything approaching plain sailing for them."

References

Bibliography

* Watson, Mike (1985). Rags to Riches: The official history of Dundee United. David Winter & Sons, Dundee * Watson, Mike (1992). Rags to Riches (updated version). David Winter & Sons, Dundee * Watson, Mike (1997). The Tannadice Encyclopedia. Mainstream, Edinburgh * Watson, Mike (2001). Year Zero: An Inside View of the Scottish Parliament. Polygon at Edinburgh. . * Watson, Mike and Rundo, Peter (2009). Dundee United: The Official Centenary History. Birlinn, Edinburgh.

External links

* *
House of Lords profile and activity
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Mike 1949 births Living people People from Cambuslang People educated at the High School of Dundee Alumni of Heriot-Watt University Labour MSPs Watson of Invergowrie Life peers created by Elizabeth II Scottish Labour MPs UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Scottish trade unionists Scottish politicians convicted of crimes Dundee United F.C. directors and chairmen British arsonists Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow constituencies Directors of football clubs in Scotland Prisoners and detainees of Scotland 21st-century Scottish criminals Scottish prisoners and detainees Politicians from Dundee