Giles Watling

Last updated

Giles Watling
MP
Official portrait of Giles Watling MP crop 2.jpg
Official Portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
for Clacton
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Relatives Deborah Watling (sister)
Dilys Watling (maternal half-sister)
Education Forest School
OccupationActor, politician

Giles Francis Watling (born 18 February 1953) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton since 2017. [3] Prior to entering politics, he was an actor.

Contents

Early life and education

Born in Chingford to actress Patricia Hicks and actor Jack Watling, Giles Watling was privately educated at Forest School in Walthamstow. [4] He is the younger brother of the actress Deborah Watling and the younger half-brother of actress Dilys Watling.

Career

Watling has worked extensively in the British theatre and on television, but is probably best known for the role of the vicar Oswald in Carla Lane's series Bread . [5] He has also directed several UK touring theatre productions. He took on the role of Bob in the UK tour of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in 2013, and serves on the board of directors at the Royal Theatrical Fund, a charity in aid of any person in need who has professionally practised or contributed to the theatrical arts. [6]

He was a Conservative councillor for Frinton ward on Tendring District Council, having been first elected in the 2007 United Kingdom local elections. [7] On 10 September 2014 he was shortlisted in the Conservatives' Clacton open primary to decide the party's candidate against Douglas Carswell in the Clacton by-election and was adopted following a public meeting on 11 September 2014. [5] [8] [9] He lost the by-election in 2014 and the general election in 2015, but was elected in the general election in 2017. Compared with a 24.6% share of the vote he took in the 2014 by-election, his vote share was 72.3% in the 2019 general election.

Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Watling was among the signatories of a letter to The Telegraph in November 2020 from the Common Sense Group of Conservative parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke agenda'". [10]

In April 2023, he faced reselection from local party members for the next general election, [11] and was duly adopted as the party's candidate the following month. [12]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1965 Gideon's Way Malcolm Gideon8 episodes
1974 Upstairs, Downstairs 2nd Lt. James Marriott1 episode
1978 You're Only Young Twice PC Henry1 episode
1979 The Human Factor Colin
1979–1980 How's Your Father? Martin Matthews13 episodes
1980 Keep It in the Family Young man1 episode
1984 No Place Like Home Maurice1 episode
1988–1991 Bread Oswald49 episodes
1992 'Allo 'Allo! Major Twistleton-Smythe1 episode
1997 Melissa Gangster at Airport1 episode
1999 Grange Hill Mr. Radcliffe1 episode
2001The Tutankhamun Conspiracy Howard Carter TV movie
2012 Run for Your Wife Man in pub

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References

  1. ↑ "No. 61961". The London Gazette . 19 June 2017. p. 11782.
  2. ↑ Mason, Rowena (11 September 2014). "Conservatives select former 1980s television star to fight Ukip in Clacton". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Giles Watling - Search - UK Parliament". beta.parliament.uk.
  4. ↑ "Watling, Giles Francis, (born 18 Feb. 1953), MP (C) Clacton, since 2017". Who's Who . 2017. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.289481.
  5. 1 2 "Two Conservative councillors to fight Clacton primary". BBC News. 10 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Clacton: Bread's Giles Watling to stand for Conservatives". BBC News. 10 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Councillor Watling G F". Tendring District Council. 3 May 2007. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  8. ↑ James Dwan (10 September 2014). "TORY 'open primary' candidates for Clacton by-election are Frinton actor Giles Watling and Colchester councillor Sue Lissimore". Clacton & Frinton Gazette. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "Two candidates shortlisted for the Clacton by-election". Conservativehome.com. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "Britain's heroes". Letter to the Daily Telegraph. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2022.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ↑ "Conservative MP Giles Watling faces Tory membership vote". BBC News. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  12. ↑ "Clacton: Conservative MP Giles Watling re-selected as candidate". 12 May 2023 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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