Elwyn Watkins

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Elwyn Watkins
Elwyn Watkins (3x4 crop).jpg
Watkins in 2013
Personal details
Born(1963-10-29)29 October 1963
Rochdale, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
Died19 May 2024(2024-05-19) (aged 60)
Political party Liberal Democrats
Residence(s) Delph, Greater Manchester [1]
Alma mater London School of Economics [1]
Website http://elwynwatkins.co.uk/

Robert Elwyn James Watkins (born 29 October 1963 in Rochdale), was a British Liberal Democrat politician. He narrowly lost to Labour Party candidate Phil Woolas for the Oldham East and Saddleworth seat in the 2010 general election, but the result was overturned by an election court, [2] which found that Woolas had knowingly lied about Watkins' personal character. Watkins had stood down as a councillor representing Healey Ward on Rochdale Council in order to contest the general election. [3] He was selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the constituency in late 2007. [4]

Contents

In 2008, during his time as a Rochdale councillor, Watkins said he was planning to seek legal advice after Phil Woolas' election agent suggested he had "abandoned his constituents and moved to the Middle East to work for a multi-billionaire sheikh". [5]

Watkins' death was announced on Facebook on 20th May, 2024 [6] , he was 60 years old.

Oldham East & Saddleworth court case

Watkins received significant media coverage in November 2010 [7] after his petition against the return of Phil Woolas resulted in the general election result being declared void. [8] Woolas was disqualified from holding elected office for three years. [2] He failed to get the decision overturned [9] [10] and so a by-election for the Oldham East and Saddleworth seat was called which was won by Labour's Debbie Abrahams. [11]

Before the judgement, Watkins had said he would quit politics if his petition against the general election result was unsuccessful. [12]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Elwyn Watkins (Lib Dem)". Manchester Evening News. 5 April 2010. Archived from the original on 27 November 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  2. 1 2 Judges order election re-run in ex-minister's seat BBC News 2010-11-05
  3. "Watkins resigns from council". Oldham Evening Chronicle. 30 March 2010.
  4. "Elwyn Watkins selected for Oldham East and Saddleworth". Rochdale Online. 9 September 2007.
  5. "'Personal attack' angers Lib-Dem". Oldham Evening Chronicle. 29 August 2008.
  6. "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  7. Elwyn Watkins 'risked all' to challenge Woolas BBC News 2010-11-09
  8. Election petition May 2010 Part 1 Archived 2012-01-18 at the Wayback Machine Part 2 Archived 2012-01-18 at the Wayback Machine Part 3 Archived 2012-01-18 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Nicholas Cecil (3 December 2010). "End of the road for Phil Woolas in High Court bid to save Commons seat". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010.
  10. Phil Woolas defends campaign tactics as appeal fails Philip Kemp, BBC News 9 December 2010
  11. "Labour celebrate victory in Oldham East by-election". BBC News. 14 January 2011.
  12. "Fighting talk as Liberal Democrat Elwyn Watkins gets set to take on Phil Woolas". Manchester Evening News. 1 October 2010.