Graham Watson

Sir Graham Robert Watson (born 23 March 1956) is a British

Sir Graham, who holds Italian citizenship through marriage, was chosen as head of list for the 2024 European Parliament election in North East Italy by the centrist coalition 'United States of Europe' (electoral list). He was not elected since the coalition failed to reach the threshold of votes required nationwide to elect MEPs.^[2]

Graham Watson was born in

Watson began his political activity in the

In 1988 he began work for the bank HSBC in London and Hong Kong. His time there encompassed three months with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and gave him an interest in the Far East. He has travelled widely in the region and speaks some Mandarin Chinese.^[1]

In the

Watson was re-elected once more at the 2004 European Parliamentary election with his party winning 265,619 votes (18.3%).^[5]

Following the election, Watson was re-elected to lead the ELDR Group and took it into an alliance with Romano Prodi’s newly-formed European Democratic Party to form the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. The ALDE group replaced the ELDR group (though ELDR and EDP existed for a while as separate parties outside the Parliament). Watson was elected leader of the new ALDE group, which was the largest group ever established in the Parliament outside of the European People's Party and Party of European Socialists.^[6]

Watson was elected to a fourth term as an MEP for the South West in the European Parliament elections of June 2009,^[7] with the Liberal Democrats winning 266,253 votes (17.07%).^[8] Following the election, Watson stood down from the leadership of the ALDE Group, having served in that role for longer than any of his predecessors. He sat on the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee and served as Chairman of Parliament's Delegation for relations with India. He also chaired a global network of legislators campaigning for a switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy known as The Climate Parliament, of which he had been a founder member in the late 1990s.

Watson lost his seat at the European Parliament in the elections of May 2014, despite his party having polled 10.7% of the vote, the largest vote share of the UK Liberal Democrat party in the 2014 EP election. He established a global advocacy practice, Bagehot Limited, which he ran until reaching retirement age in 2021.

In 2015 Watson was appointed by the UK Government to sit on the European Economic and Social Committee, an advisory body with a five-year mandate. He sat on the Transport and Energy section and on the Foreign Affairs section and from 2015 to 2017 was chairman of the EESC's China Contact Group.

Watson lived in Langport, Somerset, from 1994 to 2017. He now lives in Edinburgh and in Brussels.^[1] His wife is from Italy^[9] and their children, one daughter and one son,^[10] were born in 1992 and 1995 respectively.^[1]

Watson was knighted in the 2011 Birthday Honours for political and public service. He is also the recipient of honours from the Republic of China (Taiwan), Georgia and Gibraltar.

From 2018 to 2023 Watson served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the European Centre for Populism Studies. In 2021 he was elected to the Board of the

Watson is a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which advocates democratic reform of the United Nations.^[11]

• Watson, Graham, Andrew Burgess (2014). Continental Drift. Bagehot Publishing.
  ISBN 978-0-9931125-0-8
• Watson, Graham, Andrew Burgess (2012). Letters from Europe. Bagehot Publishing.|
  ISBN 978-0-9545745-8-1
• Watson, Graham (2010). Building a Liberal Europe: The ALDE Project. John Harper Publishing.
  ISBN 978-0-9564508-1-4
  .
• Watson, Graham; Christine Gilmore (2006). The Power of Speech. Bagehot Publishing.
  ISBN 978-0-9545745-4-3
  .
• Watson, Graham; Simon Titley (2006). Liberalism – Something to Shout About. Bagehot Publishing.
  ISBN 978-0-9545745-3-6
  .
• Watson, Graham; Katharine Durrant (2005). Liberal Democracy & Globalisation. Bagehot Publishing.
  ISBN 978-0-9545745-2-9
  .
• Watson, Graham; Sarah Kent (2004). EU've Got Mail!: Liberal Letters from the European Parliament. Bagehot Publishing.
  ISBN 978-0-9545745-1-2
  .
• Watson, Graham; Sarah Kent (1989–2003). Liberal Language: Speeches and Essays. Bagehot Publishing.
  ISBN 978-0-9545745-0-5
  .
• Watson, Graham; Howard Mollet (2001). 2020 Vision.
• Watson, Graham; Joanna Hazelwood (2000). To the Power of Ten: UK Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament. Centre for Reform.
  ISBN 978-1-902622-17-0
  .
• Watson, Graham (1980). The Liberals in the North-South dialogue.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Graham Watson.

• The private papers of Graham Watson are deposited at the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence.

• Graham Watson MEP, official site
• MEP Profile of Graham Watson, European Parliament
• Biographical details: Graham Watson MEP, ALDE
• Graham Watson Profile, UK Liberal Democrats