Tom Watson is a formidable political operator with an uncanny knack for being at the centre of Labour party dramas.
The 48-year-old MP for West Bromwich is a former union official and entered parliament in 2001. An ally of Gordon Brown, he first came to prominence as one of the ringleaders of the 2006 “coup” that forced Tony Blair to set a deadline for his departure. When it became known he had signed a letter calling for the prime minister to go, he resigned as a junior minister in the fallout – but the episode was instrumental in the end of Blair’s premiership.
Under Brown, he then suffered what he later said was the worst week of his political life when he was wrongly accused of involvement in the row about “smear” emails sent from Downing Street by Damian McBride, the spin doctor nicknamed McPoison. The Mail on Sunday later apologised in court and paid substantial damages to Watson, who insisted that he did not know anything about the emails and would not have approved of them if he did.
After the 2010 election, he was a key player in helping Ed Miliband beat his brother David in the leadership election and he was later appointed as the party’s deputy chairman and election coordinator. Known as an effective organiser with deep roots in the Labour movement and trade unions, he was charged with preparing the party for the 2010 contest against David Cameron.
He resigned again, however, this time during the Falkirk vote-rigging controversy, saying he wanted to preserve party unity and claiming he no longer wanted to be on the political merry-go-round.
The other side of Watson’s political life has been his reputation for dogged campaigning on issues of civil liberties and privacy. He played a key role in uncovering the phone-hacking scandal and later wrote a book about the episode called Dial M for Murdoch. Since then, he has taken up the campaign to uncover child abuse by establishment figures.
Colleagues believe he has been organising for the deputy leadership for some time, giving him a head start over some of his rivals. He is close to Unite, having once shared a flat with its general secretary, Len McCluskey, and shared the union’s backing with his fellow deputy leadership candidate Angela Eagle.
Watson was favourite from the start to win the deputy post, with a YouGov poll in July putting him ahead with 42% of the vote and saying he looked unstoppable.
There was a move among some MPs to try to stop him, because of a feeling he was too associated with bullying Brownite politics – a reputation Watson has said he does not recognise. The “stop Watson” sentiment dissipated quickly, however, as it became clear that Jeremy Corbyn was going to become party leader and the mood was for an experienced operator such as Watson in the number two position.
Watson’s political positioning is somewhat difficult to pin down. He has been associated with the left of the party on issues such as civil liberties, but also with the right on subjects such as defence, having called for Britain to maintain its 2% military spending target at the beginning of the contest. He is also known for his love of music and colourful social media presence.
