Tom Watson (politician)
Thomas Anthony Watson ( born January 8, 1967) is a British Labour Party politician. Since 2001 he represented West Bromwich East in the British Parliament. It was founded in 2003 known as the first British MEP with its own blog.
Education and work
Watson studied at the University of Hull. He became involved in the student body of his university, and was elected its president in 1992. 1992 to 1993 he was also the chairman of the National Organisation of Labour Students, one of the Labour Party affiliated national student organization. After graduating, he worked in the marketing department. He supported the election campaign of his party to the British general election in 1997, in which the Labour Party defeated the ruling Conservative Party clearly.
Political career
Watson was elected in 2001 in the electoral district of West Bromwich East, succeeding his party comrades Peter Snape into the British Parliament. He first worked at the Home Affairs Select Committee and in 2003 was parliamentary private secretary to the Paymaster General. As the first British Member he opened a blog on his official website in 2003. He attracted public attention with a blog entry that parodied the efforts of politicians to inspire young people in politics. His blog won the 2004 New Media Award from the New Statesman newspaper. He was Assistant Whip in 2004 the Blair government before being appointed Under Secretary of State and Minister for Veterans joined the Ministry of Defence in May 2006.
On 5 September 2006 reported the British press, Watson had signed a letter in which the incumbent Prime Minister Tony Blair was asked to resign. The managing director of parliamentary government, Jacqui Smith, Watson stated in an interview before the election, withdraw the signature or resign from his post. A day later, Watson announced his resignation.
Following the appointment of Blair's successor, Gordon Brown in June 2007, Watson returned to the government. Since January 2008 he has been Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office.
Private
Watson lives in the Black Country. He is married and has a son.
Works
- Votes for All: Compulsory Participation in Elections ( Fabian Policy Report ). Fabian Society, 2000. ISBN 0716330504 ( Mark Tami )