Editing Graham Watson (section)

==European Parliament==

In the [[1994 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1994 European Parliamentary election]] he was elected for [[Somerset and North Devon (European Parliament constituency)|Somerset and North Devon]] with a majority of over 22,500. Watson<ref name="GW Bio"/> was the first Liberal Democrat returned from a British constituency to serve in the [[European Parliament]]. Accompanied by [[Robin Teverson, Baron Teverson|Robin Teverson]], elected later the same night, he sat with the [[European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (European Parliament group)|Group of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party]] (ELDR).<ref name="GW Bio"/> During this term, Watson served on two committees; the [[Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs]] [[Committee on Industry, Research and Energy|and Industrial Policy]] and the [[Committee on Budgets]],<ref name="GW Bio"/> and acted as [[Whip (politics)|whip]] for the ELDR group until 1996.<ref name="EP Bio"/>

===Second term===
In 1999 the introduction of the list system (a form of [[proportional representation]]) in [[Great Britain]] for European elections meant Watson's constituency was abolished in favour of a larger multi-member constituency encompassing [[South West England]]. The [[South West England (European Parliament constituency)|South West constituency]] would later also include [[Gibraltar]], from 2004. Watson was re-elected in this constituency as the sole Liberal Democrat member at the [[1999 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1999 European Parliamentary election]]. His party had gained 171,398 votes, 15.7% of the total.<ref name="GW 99 Results">{{cite web|title=European Election Results For South West England |publisher=Graham Watson MEP website |url=http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org.uk/results/669.html |access-date=2007-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012092640/http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org.uk/results/669.html |archive-date=2007-10-12 }}</ref> During this term he led the ten British Liberal Democrats in the parliament<ref name="EP Bio" /> and between 1999 and 2002 he held the [[Chair (official)|chair]] of the [[Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs|Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs]].<ref name="GW Bio" /> In that position he steered through Parliament freedom of information provisions and the legislation providing for a European Arrest Warrant. In 2002 he was elected to lead the EU-wide ELDR Group, succeeding Irishman Pat Cox MEP.

===Third term===

Watson was re-elected once more at the [[2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2004 European Parliamentary election]] with his party winning 265,619 votes (18.3%).<ref name="GW 04 Results">{{cite web|title=European Election Results For South West England |publisher=Graham Watson MEP website |url=http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org.uk/results/681.html |access-date=2007-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009213327/http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org.uk/results/681.html |archive-date=2007-10-09 }}</ref>

Following the election, Watson was re-elected to lead the ELDR Group and took it into an alliance with Romano Prodi’s newly-formed [[European Democratic Party]] to form the [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe]]. The ALDE group replaced the ELDR group (though ELDR and EDP existed for a while as separate parties outside the Parliament). Watson was elected leader of the new ALDE group, which was the largest group ever established in the Parliament outside of the [[European People's Party]] and [[Party of European Socialists]].<ref name="GW ALDE elect">{{cite web|title=The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is born |date=2004-07-14 |publisher=Graham Watson MEP website |url=http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/news/000017/the_alliance_of_liberals_and_democrats_for_europe_is_born.html |access-date=2007-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205090940/http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/news/000017/the_alliance_of_liberals_and_democrats_for_europe_is_born.html |archive-date=2007-12-05 }}</ref>

===Fourth term===
Watson was elected to a fourth term as an MEP for the South West in the European Parliament elections of June 2009,<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8088644.stm
|title=Labour loses hold in South West
|publisher=BBC News
|date= 8 June 2009
|access-date=2009-06-09
}}
</ref> with the Liberal Democrats winning 266,253 votes (17.07%).<ref name=europarlresult2009>
{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.europarl.org.uk/section/european-elections/results-2009-european-elections-uk
 |title       = Results of 2009 European elections in the UK
 |publisher   = UK Office of the European Parliament
 |date        = 8 June 2009
 |access-date  = 2009-06-09
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090607204700/http://www.europarl.org.uk/section/european-elections/results-2009-european-elections-uk
 |archive-date = 7 June 2009
 |df          = dmy-all
}}
</ref> Following the election, Watson stood down from the leadership of the ALDE Group, having served in that role for longer than any of his predecessors. He sat on the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee and served as Chairman of Parliament's Delegation for relations with India. He also chaired a global network of legislators campaigning for a switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy known as The Climate Parliament, of which he had been a founder member in the late 1990s.