Philip George Watkins (5 November 1930 – 1 June 1995) was an English accountant and Liberal Party politician. He was for many years treasurer of the Liberal Party and during the 1970s had to endure both the spotlight of the media during the Jeremy Thorpe affair and an investigation into the finances of the party under Thorpe's leadership. Family, education and career Philip Watkins was born in Bristol, one of a pair of twin boys. He was orphaned in childhood and he and his twin, Bob, and their brother David were looked after by an uncle and aunt. He read Greats at Brasenose College, Oxford and was both treasurer and president of the Oxford University Liberal Club in 1951. After leaving university Watkins went into accountancy, running his own firm. Religion Watkins was a lifelong and committed Christian, a devout Anglican and a member of the Synod. Politics Parliamentary candidate Watkins fought six general elections as a Liberal between 1959 and 1974. He contested Bridgwater in Somerset in 1959, 1964, and 1966. Then he switched his attention to North Dorset which had been Frank Byers’ old seat from 1945 – 1950. He kept the Liberals in second place on each occasion but never really got close to winning the seat. Party official However, despite his inability to get into the House of Commons, by 1973 Watkins was being described in the press as one of the party's most powerful men. Devotedly loyal to Jeremy Thorpe, Watkins stayed unswervingly Liberal and took on other responsibilities in the party. In 1969 he was chairman of the party's finance and administration board before being elected treasurer of the party, in which capacity he served from 1972–77. He was vice-president of the Liberal Party from 1977 until the merger with the SDP in 1988. Treasurer By most accounts, Watkins was an effective treasurer, applying rigorous discipline to the party's expenditure and accounting. The problem Watkins had was that he was never made fully aware of all the income to the party and in particular to certain special funds arranged by Jeremy Thorpe, the details of which were the subject of a special investigation by the party. However it has been alleged that Watkins' approach to this issue was to accept the status quo rather than probe too deeply and run the risk of finding out what was under the stones. A more charitable explanation