John Taylor Watkinson (25 January 1941 – 21 September 2004) was a British Labour Party politician, barrister and teacher. He was educated at

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, mixed, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowe ...

before reading PPE at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

. From graduation until 1971 he was a schoolmaster at

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

, and thereafter was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

, where he practised on the

Midland Circuit Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...

. Watkinson was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gloucestershire West in the October 1974 general election, but lost the seat in 1979 to the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Paul Marland Paul Marland (19 March 1940 – 7 April 2021) was a British Conservative politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for West Gloucestershire from 1979 to 1997. From 1967 onwards, he was also a farmer. Early life and education Marland was ...

. Watkinson was on the moderate 'right' wing of the Labour Party, but was relatively unusual for a member of that tendency in voting for Britain's withdrawal from the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

(EEC) during the referendum on membership in 1975. He defected to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SDP) in October 1981, and contested Gloucestershire West under his new colours in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

.''Times'', 15 October 1981.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979'' *

External links

* 1941 births 2004 deaths People educated at Bristol Grammar School Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Social Democratic Party (UK) parliamentary candidates UK MPs 1974–1979 {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub