The Erlend Watson Award

Erlend Watson was a long-serving Liberal Democrat and formidable campaigner.

In 2021, the Young Liberals awarded Erlend honorary life membership.

"Erlend has been a great friend of Young Liberals since before most of our members were born.

"With a long and varied career within the party, he has been a fixture of general and by-election campaigns for decades. He has often used his experience to act as a sounding board for our Chairs and Executives and has been a source of advice, wisdom and good humour for many young activists. Most notably, he served as Honorary President of the then Liberal Youth between 2011-12.

“As an executive, we think it only fitting that we award Erlend Honorary Life Membership of the Young Liberals, which we will be moving at our upcoming Winter Conference, and would like to reiterate our thanks to him for being a great ally to our organisation." - Young Liberal Chair Eleanor Kelly, December 2021

In January 2022, he sadly passed away following an illness. You can read Mark Pack's obituary to Erlend on his blog.

Following his passing, the Young Liberals created the Erlend Watson Award to recognise those who have made an outstanding contribution in a Parliamentary By-Election - a speciality of Erlend's.