Russell Watton (born 1954) is a Northern Irish Ulster loyalist, politician and community activist, serving as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) since 2023, and a Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Councillor for the Coleraine DEA since 2014.
[3] He was involved in the bombing of the Salmon Leap Restaurant, which caused the deaths of several of Watton's UVF comrades.
He was elected onto the successor Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, having topped the poll in the Coleraine District.
[8] He was the PUP candidate for East Londonderry at the 2016 and 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly elections, though was unsuccessful on both attempts.
[11] Following his re-election in 2023, in which he was the only PUP candidate elected, Watton succeeded defeated Belfast City Councillor, Billy Hutchinson, as leader.