Tommy Watson's upbringing is similar to that of many Indigenous people born around the same time, from that point forward living a traditional nomadic existence until his early teens and then working as a stockman and labourer. He studied at the University of Hull, where he was active in the Hull University Labour Club and elected President of the Students' Union in 1992. He then worked as a marketing officer and advertising account executive. Watson moved up to lightweight in October 1934 with a win over George Odwell,[13] and in 1935 beat Lee, Tommy Spiers, and Frankie Brown in British title eliminators, but lost a final eliminator in October to George Daly after retiring due to cut eye. [53][54][55] He was also appointed Chairman of the Labour Party and Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office by new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. On 12 September 2015, Watson was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, alongside new leader Jeremy Corbyn, gaining 198,962 votes or 50.7%, including second preference votes from those who voted for other candidates. Back in England, Watson beat Benny Sharkey before suffering only the fifth defeat of his career when he was disqualified against Sonny Lee for a low blow. His subsequent attempts to distance himself show a complete lack of integrity. [19] In 2019 after he stood down both as an MP and as Deputy Leader he said he had voted for Owen Smith in the 2016 Leadership election. [29] Watson wrote his book at the same time as The Guardian journalist Nick Davies was writing his, which was subsequently released as Hack Attack: How the Truth Caught Up with Rupert Murdoch. [72], In July 2019, Watson was criticised by Labour's General Secretary Jennie Formby for being irresponsible in criticising Labour's handling of antisemitism claims. [2], In January 1933, Watson travelled to the United States for the first time. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Watson served in the Royal Navy, in which he was lightweight champion. Watson's mother died during his infancy, and his father when he was about eight years old. Watson also revealed that he had "battled weight since my early 20s". [43] One of the daughters of the late Greville Janner, who was also accused by Beech, Rabbi Janner-Klausner, said "We have a system where people are believed instantly before the evidence is examined instead of being listened to compassionately and the allegations properly investigated. He added: "All claims were made under the rules set out by the House of Commons authorities. Formby said he risked exacerbating fears in the Jewish community and that, while antisemitism was a real problem, steps had been taken to tackle it. It's out this Thursday. "[31], On 24 October 2012, Watson suggested in the House of Commons that a paedophile network may have existed in the past at a high level, protected by connections to Parliament and involving a close aide to a former Prime Minister; neither the aide nor the former Prime Minister were named. But I didn't. [4] Later that year, he was a leading candidate for the chairmanship of the Labour Friends of Israel alongside Stephen Byers. In October 2011, Ed Miliband appointed him as Deputy Chair of the National Executive Committee and the Labour Party's Campaign Coordinator for the 2015 general election.