[1] He currently sits as a Labour member of the House of Lords[2] and is an Associate Director of the Edinburgh public affairs and communications company Caledonia Consulting.

On 18 September 2015, the new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn appointed Watson as Education spokesman in the House of Lords.

[3][4] Watson was born in Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, but his family moved to Invergowrie, Perth and Kinross when he was very young.

The bill passed a vote 83–36 on 13 February 2002[7] and received Royal Assent on 15 March, becoming the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 and becoming law on 1 August.

[8] On 15 November 2004, Watson was charged with wilful fire raising, and the Labour whip was withdrawn from him in the Holyrood and Westminster parliaments.

In January 2007 Watson was appointed as an Associate Director with Caledonia Consulting, while also attending the House of Lords on a regular basis.

[citation needed] Watson was re-admitted to membership of the Labour Party in July 2012, after a vote of the National Executive Committee.

[10] Sheriff Kathrine Mackie justified the sentence, stating that there was both "a significant risk of re-offending" and that Lord Watson offered no explanation.

[12] In an interview with The House magazine in March 2017, Lord Watson was asked whether Labour could win a UK general election under Jeremy Corbyn.