Based in Manchester, Watts was an active secularist before joining the Social Democratic Federation (SDF).
He then became treasurer of the SDF, and was a notable figure in the organisation's major 1886 demonstration against unemployment.
[2] Watts was elected to the reorganised Executive of the SDF in 1895,[1] serving for one year, then again from 1902 to 1906.
In 1906, he was a leading opponent of proposals to affiliate the SDF to the Independent Labour Party.
[2] Always loyal to SDF leader H. M. Hyndman, Watts joined his pro-war split in 1916, the National Socialist Party.