Benjamin Watkins was an Australian politician. He was born in Hobart. In 1906 he was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly

Tasmanian House of Assembly

The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House...

 as the Labor

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 member for Queenstown

Electoral district of Queenstown

The Electoral district of Queenstown was a single-member electoral district of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. It was based in the mining town of Queenstown in the West Coast region of Tasmania...

; following the introduction of proportional representation

Proportional representation

Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

 in 1909 he was elected as one of the members for Darwin

Division of Braddon (state)

The Electoral Division of Braddon, Tasmania is one of the 5 electorates in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The constituency takes its name from the former Premier of Tasmania, Sir Edward Braddon. Prior to 1955, the electorate was known as Darwin. The boundaries and name of the electorate are...

. In 1917 he resigned to contest the federal election

Australian federal election, 1917

Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 May 1917. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

 but was unsuccessful; he returned to the House as a member for Franklin

Division of Franklin (state)

The Electoral Division of Franklin is one of the five electorates in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The division is named after Sir John Franklin, the arctic explorer who was Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land 1837-43...

 in 1919. In 1922 he was defeated and ran for the 1922 federal election

Australian federal election, 1922

Federal elections were held in Australia on 16 December 1922. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes lost its majority...

 unsuccessfully; he returned to the House in 1925, serving until 1934. He left the Labor Party to become an Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

in 1931. Watkins died in 1963 in Hobart.