David Watkins (UK politician)
Encyclopedia
David John Watkins was a British
Labour Party
politician.
Watkins was educated at South Central and Merrywood Grammar School
s, Bristol
, and Bristol College of Technology. He was an engineering inspector and president of his branch of the Amalgamated Engineering Union. He served as a councillor on Bristol City Council 1954-57 and on the Bristol Education Committee from 1958.
Watkins contested Bristol North West in 1964.
He was Member of Parliament
for Consett
from 1966 to 1983, when the seat was abolished in boundary changes.
Watkins was director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding
from 1983 to 1990. His books on the Palestine-Israel conflict include Palestine : an inescapable duty and The Exceptional Conflict.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician.
Watkins was educated at South Central and Merrywood Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
s, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, and Bristol College of Technology. He was an engineering inspector and president of his branch of the Amalgamated Engineering Union. He served as a councillor on Bristol City Council 1954-57 and on the Bristol Education Committee from 1958.
Watkins contested Bristol North West in 1964.
He was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Consett
Consett (UK Parliament constituency)
Consett was a county constituency, centred on the town of Consett in County Durham. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....
from 1966 to 1983, when the seat was abolished in boundary changes.
Watkins was director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding
CAABU
The Council for Arab-British Understanding, also known as the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding , is a London-based lobbying group dedicated to improving the political, economic and cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the Arab world. Founded in 1967, CAABU is...
from 1983 to 1990. His books on the Palestine-Israel conflict include Palestine : an inescapable duty and The Exceptional Conflict.