Editing Graham Watson (section)

{{short description|British politician (born 1956)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = GrahamWatsonMEPHead and Shoulders.jpg
| office              = President of the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party]]
| term_start          = 25 November 2011
| term_end            = 21 November 2015
| predecessor         = [[Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck]]
| successor           = [[Hans van Baalen]]
| office1             = Leader of the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group]]
| term_start1         = 25 May 2004
| term_end1           = 1 July 2009
| predecessor1        = ''Office established''
| successor1          = [[Guy Verhofstadt]]
| constituency_MP3    = [[South West England (European Parliament constituency)|South West England]]
| parliament3         = European
| term_start3         = 19 July 1994
| term_end3           = 30 June 2014
| predecessor3        = ''Constituency established''
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1956|3|23|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Rothesay, Bute|Rothesay]], [[Scotland]], [[United Kingdom|UK]]
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] (1988–present)<br>[[European Liberal Democrats|LDE]] (2024–present)
| spouse              = Rita Giannini
| children            = 2
| alma_mater          = [[Heriot-Watt University]]
| website             = 
| otherparty          = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] (1972–1988)<br>[[National League of Young Liberals|NLYL]] (1972–1988)
| citizenship         = United Kingdom • Italy
| caption             = Graham Watson in 2010
}}
'''Sir Graham Robert Watson''' (born 23 March 1956) is a British [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] politician who served as a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP) for [[South West England (European Parliament constituency)|South West England]] from 1994 to 2014. Watson was the chairman of the Parliament's committee on citizens rights, justice and home affairs (1999–2002). He then served for seven and a half years as leader of the Liberal Group in the European Parliament, first as leader of the [[European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group]] (2002–2004) and then as leader of the new [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group]] (2004–2009).<ref name="GW Bio">{{cite web|title=Biography: Graham Watson MEP |publisher=Graham Watson MEP website |url=http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org.uk/pages/biography.html |access-date=2007-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009213727/http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org.uk/pages/biography.html |archive-date=2007-10-09 }}</ref> From 2011 until 2015, he was the president of the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party]]. From 2015 to 2020, he was a UK member on the [[European Economic and Social Committee]]. He is currently an adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

Sir Graham, who holds Italian citizenship through marriage, was chosen as head of list for the 2024 European Parliament election in North East [[Italy]] by the centrist coalition '[[United States of Europe (electoral list)|United States of Europe]]' (electoral list). He was not elected since the coalition failed to reach the threshold of votes required nationwide to elect MEPs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-20 |title=Bonino capolista per Stati Uniti d'Europa nel Nord ovest - Notizie - Ansa.it |url=https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/politica/2024/04/20/bonino-capolista-per-stati-uniti-deuropa-nel-nord-ovest_592aa31e-56db-4e0b-b696-6a5f5c3d1ab5.html |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=Agenzia ANSA |language=it}}</ref>