David Leonard Watts, Baron Watts (born 26 August 1951) is a British politician and

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

who served in the Blair and Brown governments as a

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second ...

from 2005 to 2010 and chaired the

Parliamentary Labour Party The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in the British House of Commons. The group comprises the Labour members of parliament as a collective body. Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes ...

as a backbencher from 2012 to 2015. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for

St Helens North St. Helens North is a constituency created in 1983 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by the Labour Party's David Baines since 2024. Boundaries 1983–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of St Helens wards of Billinge and Sene ...

from

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Early life

Watts was educated at Malvern Primary School and Huyton Hey Secondary Modern School,

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Merseyside, Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley, Liverpool, ...

. He was leader of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council for four years. He was a union official at

Huntley & Palmers Huntley & Palmers is a British company of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. Formed by Joseph Huntley in 1822, the company became one of the world's first global brands (chiefly led by George Palmer (businessman), George Palme ...

' biscuit factory in Huyton.

Parliamentary career

Watts was a

Government Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

and Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury from 2008 to 2010. On 15 March 2012, he was elected to succeed

Tony Lloyd Sir Anthony Joseph Lloyd (25 February 1950 – 17 January 2024) was a British Labour politician. He served as a member of Parliament (MP) for 36 years, making him one of the longest-serving MPs in recent history. He served as MP for Stretfo ...

as the Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party, a role he performed until he stood down to be replaced by

John Cryer John Robert Cryer, Baron Cryer (born 11 April 1964), is a British politician. A member of the Labour Party, he was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornchurch from 1997 to 2005 and the MP for Leyton and Wanstead from 2010 to 202 ...

on 9 February 2015. He stood down at the 2015 General Election. Watts is associated with the

Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that advocates a strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party (UK), Labour ...

. Watts was nominated for a

age in the

2015 Dissolution Honours The 2015 Dissolution Honours List was issued on 27 August 2015 upon the advice of the prime minister, David Cameron. The Life Peerages were announced separately from the other appointments, while it was gazetted as a single list on 22 September 2 ...

. On 23 October 2015, he was created Baron Watts, of Ravenhead in the County of Merseyside, for life. By virtue of that

age, he became a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He entered the House of Lords on 3 December 2015 continuing to sit under the Labour whip.

Personal life

Watts married Avril Davies in 1972, with whom he has two sons.

References

External links

Guardian Unlimited Policies - Ask Aristotle: David Watts MP

TheyWorkForYou.com - Dave Watts MP

House of Lords

Voting record
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, David 1951 births Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) officials Labour Friends of Israel Living people UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II