Editing Graham Watson (section)

==Early life==
Graham Watson was born in [[Rothesay, Argyll and Bute|Rothesay]] on the [[Isle of Bute]] ([[Scotland]], [[United Kingdom]]), the eldest of six children. His father was an [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] in the [[Royal Navy]] and his mother a [[teacher]]. Watson was educated at the [[City of Bath Boys' School]] following his father’s posting to the Admiralty in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]. He returned to Scotland to attend [[Heriot-Watt University]] in [[Edinburgh]] where he [[Graduation|graduated]] in 1979 with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in [[modern language]]s.<ref name="GW Bio"/> While at university he spent one semester studying at the [[University of Geneva]] and one at [[Leipzig University|Karl Marx University]] in [[Leipzig]] in the [[German Democratic Republic]]. At the latter he was spied on by a fellow British student working for the [[East Germany|East German]] ''[[Stasi]]'' (State Security Police): the story of this is told in the book ''[[The Stasi Files]]'' by (Free Press, 2004) and has been the subject of documentary film productions by the [[BBC]] and [[Channel 4|Channel Four]]. On graduating from university in 1979, Watson worked first as a freelance interpreter and translator and then (1980–83) as an administrator at [[University of West of Scotland|Paisley College of Technology]]. He now speaks four European languages.

Watson began his political activity in the [[Scottish Young Liberals]] in 1976. As international officer of the [[Scottish Young Liberals]] he became involved in the [[International Federation of Liberal Youth]], becoming a vice-president (1977) then General Secretary (1979) of the organization.<ref name="EP Bio">{{cite web|title=MEP Profile: Graham Watson|publisher=[[Europa (web portal)|European Parliament]]|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/groupAndCountry/view.do?partNumber=1&group=1550&country=GB&language=EN&id=2155|access-date=2007-10-07}}</ref> He was a founder of the [[European Youth Forum|European Communities' Youth Forum]].<ref name="GW Bio"/> He served as a council member of the [[European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party]] between 1983 and 1993.<ref name="EP Bio"/> Between 1983 and 1987 he also served as head of the private office of then leader of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|British Liberal Party]], Sir [[David Steel]].<ref name="GW Bio"/>

In 1988 he began work for the bank [[HSBC]] in [[London]] and [[Hong Kong]]. His time there encompassed three months with the [[European Bank for Reconstruction and Development]] and gave him an interest in the [[Far East]]. He has travelled widely in the region and speaks some [[Mandarin Chinese]].<ref name="GW Bio"/>