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Official portrait of The Baroness Watkins of Tavistock

The Baroness Watkins of Tavistock

Crossbench Member of the House of Lords F
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock's full title is The Baroness Watkins of Tavistock. Her name is Mary Jane Watkins, and she is a current member of the House of Lords.

Allowance claims · 2026

Data not yet released for 2026 — the Lords Finance Office publishes monthly CSVs ~6-8 weeks after month-end.

Lords votes · 2026

162 divisions 14 Content(8.6%) 48 Not-Content(29.6%) 100 didn't vote(61.7%)
2026-04-28
Not-Content
91181 Not-Content
2026-04-27
Content
316165 Content
2026-04-23
Not-Content
207141 Content
2026-04-23
Not-Content
209145 Content
2026-04-23
Not-Content
152207 Not-Content
2026-04-23
Not-Content
220143 Content
2026-04-22
Not-Content
281190 Content
2026-04-22
Not-Content
282184 Content
2026-04-15
Not-Content
209260 Not-Content
2026-04-13
Not-Content
65173 Not-Content
2026-04-13
Not-Content
178231 Not-Content
2026-04-13
Not-Content
247187 Content
2026-03-26
Not-Content
171146 Content
2026-03-26
Not-Content
115197 Not-Content
2026-03-26
Not-Content
64140 Not-Content
2026-03-25
Content
306145 Content
2026-03-24
Not-Content
70132 Not-Content
2026-03-24
Not-Content
187157 Content
2026-03-24
Not-Content
250158 Content
2026-03-24
Not-Content
80166 Not-Content
2026-03-24
Not-Content
285156 Content
2026-03-23
Not-Content
198159 Content
2026-03-23
Not-Content
241175 Content
2026-03-18
Not-Content
8364 Content
2026-03-18
Not-Content
68163 Not-Content
2026-03-18
Not-Content
70166 Not-Content
2026-03-18
Content
18058 Content
2026-03-18
Not-Content
119191 Not-Content
2026-03-18
Not-Content
148185 Not-Content
2026-03-18
Content
203148 Content
2026-03-18
Not-Content
220191 Content
2026-03-18
Not-Content
231188 Content
2026-03-16
Not-Content
276165 Content
2026-03-10
Not-Content
252171 Content
2026-03-10
Not-Content
257174 Content
2026-03-10
Not-Content
273180 Content
2026-03-09
Not-Content
88172 Not-Content
2026-03-09
Not-Content
75190 Not-Content
2026-03-04
Content
129132 Not-Content
2026-03-04
Not-Content
52146 Not-Content
2026-03-04
Content
213145 Content
2026-03-04
Not-Content
41181 Not-Content
2026-03-02
Content
192155 Content
2026-03-02
Content
202155 Content
2026-03-02
Content
71177 Not-Content
2026-03-02
Content
121145 Not-Content
2026-02-25
Not-Content
205188 Content
2026-02-25
Not-Content
86178 Not-Content
2026-02-03
Not-Content
295180 Content
2026-01-28
Content
231147 Content
2026-01-28
Not-Content
67191 Not-Content
2026-01-21
Not-Content
261150 Content
2026-01-21
Content
65162 Not-Content
2026-01-14
Content
278176 Content
2026-01-06
Not-Content
182209 Not-Content
Source: lordsvotes-api.parliament.uk. "Result" shows the headline Content vs Not-Content tally (including tellers). The Lords doesn't publish a "didn't vote" attendance roll like the Commons, so the figure above conflates absence with abstention.

Recent Hansard contributions · latest 25

2026-06-18 Livestock Grazing on Dartmoor National Park
My Lords, I declare my interest: I live on Dartmoor. The publication within the local and national newspapers has caused real concern. We cannot measure natural habitat against the other advantages to Dartmoor of the ponies, particularly tourism. Dartmoo
2026-06-10 Working From Home (Home-based Working Committee Report)
I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate, and thank the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, for so ably chairing the committee, and for her excellent introductory speech covering the findings that most of us will probably repeat in part. I inten
2026-06-03 Alzheimer’s Disease: Diagnosis and Access to Experimental Drugs
My Lords, will the Minister comment on the Government’s position on the rollout of anti-obesity drugs? The preliminary findings indicate that they will reduce the amount of dementia in future populations. Although that is experimental, it is really impor
2026-06-01 Social Housing Bill [HL]
My Lords, it is a pleasure to contribute to this debate that so many people have made important points in. I declare my interests as chair of Look Ahead, a social housing provider that works with homeless people and those with mental health problems, and
2026-05-21 Offshore Oil and Gas: Venting and Flaring
My Lords, can the Minister explain whether, when calculating emissions from the UK, we estimate the emissions associated with imported oil and gas? If not, why not? The initial suggestions are that increasing our production would, in global terms, reduce
2026-05-20 King’s Speech
My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak after the noble Lord, Lord McLoughlin. I welcome the proposed legislation regarding social housing and health outlined in the King’s gracious Speech, as I believe that they are inextricably linked. I declare my inte
2026-04-27 Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I must inform the House that, if Motion A1 is agreed to, I will not be able to call Motion A2 by reason of pre-emption. Motion A1 (as an amendment to Motion A)
2026-04-23 Home Ownership: First-Time Buyers
My Lords, I am very glad that the Minister has mentioned shared ownership schemes, because the terms for new schemes are really very good, but many people are stuck on previous detrimental schemes. Following Grenfell and the requirements for them to pay
2026-04-21 Cancer Outcomes in the UK
My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Patel on securing this important debate, to which it is a pleasure to contribute. I declare my interest as a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing, and I am delighted that I will be followed by a previous pr
2026-04-14 Middle East
My Lords, yesterday’s Statement refers to the fact that Britain needs to be energy independent and that we need to take control of our energy bills. Will the Lord Privy Seal comment on whether His Majesty’s Government are considering increasing gas reser
2026-03-27 Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I am broadly supportive of tightening the issue of ensuring that people’s conscience and beliefs are recognised and I support people who are prepared to work with patients who are, I remind the House, terminally ill adults wanting an end-of-lif
2026-03-27 Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords—
2026-03-27 Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I accept that. There was a helpful article in one of the newspapers this week talking about using the term “assisted death” rather than “assisted suicide”. I am pleased that I have had the opportunity to say it in the Chamber.
2026-03-26 Arrangement of Business
My Lords, if there is a Division in the Chamber while we are sitting—I must stress that one is expected—the Committee will adjourn as soon as the Division Bells are rung and resume, at the very latest, after 10 minutes. We are very tight for time if we a
2026-03-20 Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I do not think so. I have greater faith in the medical profession and the multidisciplinary team.
2026-03-20 Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, we have already had extensive discussion about the multidisciplinary team involvement. In 50 years of nursing—not all in clinical—I have never heard a doctor come out with, “You’ve definitely got six months to live”. There are much more subtle
2026-03-20 Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I just wanted to stress, particularly for Hansard, that the people we are talking about are ultimately going to die from the illness they have had. Therefore, when the noble Lord has referred to them not wanting to die, he means that they do not want an
2026-03-18 Crime and Policing Bill
Could I further clarify and ask a question? Is it not true that if any doctor or nurse is doubtful when telemedicine is happening, they will ask that person to come in to be seen?
2026-03-18 Crime and Policing Bill
Could I further clarify and ask a question—
2026-03-16 Media Literacy (Communications and Digital Committee Report)
My Lords, there is a Division in the House, so the Committee will adjourn for 10 minutes. There was a medical emergency in the Chamber earlier, which is why everything is out of sync. We have a hard finish at 8 pm, so if noble Lords vote swiftly come bac
2026-03-16 NHS: In-house Software Capabilities
My Lords, cyber security is an essential element in any system, but nowhere more so than when people’s health records are being maintained. Many security breaches are attributed, at least in part, to human error. What investment are His Majesty’s Governm
2026-03-10 Student Loan System
My Lords, it is absolutely clear that there is no intergenerational fairness in the way that student loans are being funded at the moment. There are many of us in this House, and many of our spouses, who went to university for absolutely nothing. We are
2026-03-02 NHS: Violence Against NHS Staff
My Lords, when working as a district nurse in 1981, I worked with an elderly male patient who had a rat in a cage as a pet. I made a rookie mistake that I would not make now: I said I was frightened of it. The next time I visited, when I drew back his be
2026-02-27 Arrangement of Business
My Lords, I want to make the point that the Companion asks us not to read long speeches if people have already made the points in the section that we are discussing. When we were dealing with the Mental Health Act, which I think was equally important, I
2026-02-06 Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I want to draw attention to the fact that I raised this issue two days previously in Committee. It is essential that we retain staff, particularly nursing staff, who would object to anything to do with assisted dying. That can be achieved, as I said earl
Source: hansard.parliament.uk via hansard-api. Snippets shown verbatim from the search API; click any debate title for the full record.

Register of Interests · 3 entries on file

Declarations under the Lords Code of Conduct. Free text — no monetary values, no hours worked. A declaration that an interest exists, not a claim about its size.

Category 1: Remunerated employment etc.

  • Non-executive Director, NHS England
    registered 2023-02-06 · amended 2025-04-05
  • Chair, Look Ahead Care and Support Limited (support, care and accommodation services)
    registered 2021-08-05 · amended 2025-04-05

Category 4: Sponsorship

  • The member receives research support from a PhD student from King’s College London, as part of a training scheme for which the student receives a stipend
    registered 2021-10-19 · amended 2025-04-05
Source: UK Parliament Members API (Lords register). Refreshed weekly. Read the full Lords Code of Conduct for what each category covers and the disclosure thresholds.

Party history

2015-11-02present
Crossbench current

Government posts

None recorded.

Opposition posts

None recorded.

Committee memberships

2016-05-252017-04-04
Licensing Act 2003 Committee
2019-07-012023-01-31
Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee
2017-06-272018-05-15
Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee
2018-05-152018-07-27
Draft Health Service Safety Investigations Bill (Joint Committee)
2018-09-042019-04-30
SLSC Sub-Committee B
2024-01-242024-11-14
Preterm Birth Committee
2025-01-302025-10-27
Home-based Working Committee
2026-01-27present
Public Services Committee

Contact

Parliamentary office
watkinsm@parliament.uk
020 7219 5459 · House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW
Personal assistant
hedgesr@parliament.uk
PA: Rebecca Hedges, Kings Building, 16 Smith Square, LONDON, SW1P 3HQ

APPGs (2026) · 4 active officership(s) · 4 historic

Group Role(s) Funders Officers in group Next deadline
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Harm
Subject Group
Vice Chair Alcohol Change UK 8 2024-04-17
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health
Subject Group
Vice Chair 8 2024-05-14
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Intensive Care
Subject Group
Vice Chair 4 2025-03-16
All-Party Parliamentary Health Group
Subject Group
Officer Policy Connect 4 2027-02-15
One row per active APPG. Funder names link out via the /appgs Top secretariat funders panel — click any funder there to open its full relationship graph. Officer matching is name-based against the parliament.uk register text and may miss titled / hyphenated variants.

Written parliamentary questions · 2026

No written questions tabled in 2026.

Bills sponsored & supported · 2026

0 bills 0 as lead sponsor 0 as supporter
No bills sponsored or supported in 2026.
Source: UK Parliament Bills API. "Lead" sponsor is the primary mover (sortOrder = 1); "Supporter" rows are members of either House who backed the bill at introduction. Year is the bill's first-reading date.

Historic bills (all-time)

0 bills 0 as lead sponsor 0 as supporter
No bills sponsored or supported on record.
Same source as the year-scoped panel above, but unconstrained by year. The "Sponsored" tag = lead sponsor; "Supported" = backed at introduction. Sorted newest first.
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