 Councillor Watters first entered local government in 1982 as a member for East Kilbride serving on Strathclyde Regional Council where he became Chair of Personnel, a position which he retained when moving to South Lanarkshire Council in 1995. He was elected COSLA President for an historic third term in June 2007. He was first elected COSLA President in October 2001, and then again in 2003 having served as Vice President since June 1999.
Councillor Watters was one of the leading members of the Education Management Side which successfully negotiated the historic McCrone agreement on Teachers’ Pay and Conditions. He was also instrumental in achieving a solution to the UK wide fire dispute in 2003.
Within his own Council, South Lanarkshire, in his capacity as Chair of Corporate Resources, he has been responsible for developing the Council’s family-friendly policies that are an example to other employers in the area and has been responsible for pioneering the recent award of Investors in People to the Council’s Personnel Services function, a first in Scotland.
Not satisfied with “spreading the word” within Britain, he is involved in personnel issues across Europe. Councillor Watters is married with two grown-up children. A well respected figure in Scottish Public Life Councillor Watters enjoys reading, walking and cooking.
He was awarded the CBE in the 2006 New Year Honours
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