Career
A long term campaigner for women"s rights, she had a 20+ year career in the not for profit sector. She started out at Liberty, and then political campaigners Charter88, before moving to Victim Support. She is a former Chair of the Fawcett Society, a not-for-profit organisation campaigning for equality between women and mentor
Watson was the last chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission before the creation of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, having been first appointed as a commissioner in 1999, and deputy chair from 2000.
She was deputy chairman of the Banking Code Standards Board, and of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management. Watson is a director of Global Partners and Associates.
She currently sits on the board of the Audit Commission, but her tenure will not be renewed. She is a trustee of the Charities Aid Foundation, a non-executive director of the Waste & Resources Action Programme, and a trustee of the Money Advice Trust.
Watson was appointed the second chair of the Electoral Commission in January 2009.
She is paid £100,000 for a role which requires her to work three days a week. Since then, the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Acting 2011 has increased the Commission"s authority with regard to referendums. She formally announced the results of the last referendum held in the United Kingdom, regarding Welsh devolution, "in both English and Welsh with perfect pronunciation and then just two months later she acted as Chief Counting Officer (CCO) in the 2011 AV Referendum and will also act in the same capacity in the 2016 European Union Referendum and in doing so will become the first person to oversee two United Kingdom-wide referendums as Chief Counting Officer (CCO).
