 From graduation until 1971 he was a schoolmaster at Rugby, and thereafter was called to the Bar, where he practised on the Midland Circuit.Watkinson was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gloucestershire West in the October 1974 general election, but lost the seat in 1979 to the Conservative Paul Marland.Watkinson was on the moderate 'right' wing of the Labour Party, but was relatively unusual for a member of that bloc in voting for Britain's withdrawal from the European Economic Community (EEC) during the referendum on membership in 1975.