Chris Patten

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The Right Honourable Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC (born 12 May 1944) is a prominent British Conservative politician. Originally a Member of Parliament, he lost his seat at a critical juncture in 1992 (when a Cabinet Minister and close to the Prime Minister of the day). Excluded from Parliament, he accepted the post of last Commander in Chief and British Governor of Hong Kong. After Hong Kong's handover to the People's Republic of China, Patten became the European Commissioner for foreign relations. After leaving that post, he returned to the UK and was raised to the Peerage.

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Early career

A Roman Catholic of at least partial Irish extraction, Patten was educated at St. Benedict's School in Ealing, and at Balliol College, Oxford. He worked in the Conservative Party from 1966, first as desk officer and then director (from 1974 to 1979) of the Conservative Research Department.

Patten was a Member of Parliament from 1979 to 1992, serving as Minister for Overseas Development at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1986 to 1989. In 1989 he was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for the Environment and became responsible for the unpopular Poll Tax. Though he robustly defended the policy at the time, he claimed, in his 2006 book America, Britain and Europe in the New Century to have thought it was a mistake on Margaret Thatcher's part.

In 1990, John Major made him Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Chairman of the Conservative Party, with responsibility for organising the coming general election campaign. He lost his seat for Bath to the Liberal Democrat candidate, Don Foster, in 1992. Ironically, as party chairman he was widely considered to be the main architect of the somewhat unexpected Conservative victory in the 1992 election.

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Governor of Hong Kong

Had Patten been re-elected in 1992, he might have been rewarded by appointment as Foreign Secretary. In the event, in July 1992, he became the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong until its handover to the People's Republic of China on 30 June 1997. He was given an official Chinese name, Pang Ting Hong/Peng Dingkang (Template:Lang), for his governorship, before which he was known in Hong Kong as "Pak Teng" (Template:Lang). Unlike most previous Hong Kong Governors, he was not a career bureaucrat from the UK Foreign Office but a politician. However, he was not the first politician to become a Governor of Hong Kong. That honour goes to John Bowring, who was a Conservative MP before he entered Colonial Service.

Patten's most controversial actions related to the election of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. Legco had been previously appointed, and the first elected Legislative Council in 1994 was originally intended to serve until 1998 thereby providing institutional continuity across the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China. Beijing had expected that the use of functional constituencies with limited electorates would be used to elect this council, however Patten extended the definition of functional constituencies and thus virtually every Hong Kong subject was able to vote for the so-called indirectly elected members (see Politics of Hong Kong) of the Legislative Council.

His measure was strongly objected to by the pro-Beijing political parties of Hong Kong, who suffered from the electoral changes, and he was criticized by the PRC government as an 'historic criminal' (千古罪人). The legislative council which was elected under Patten's governorship was dissolved upon the handover of Hong Kong to the PRC and replaced by a Provisional Legislative Council which functioned until elections were held under the previous rules in 1998.

The institutional reform gained some support in Hong Kong, however, and it is believed in certain circles that the criticism from the PRC government raised his popularity to a level he never enjoyed in the UK. People in Hong Kong also gave him a nickname, Fat Pang or Fei Pang (Template:Lang), making him the first and only governor to have a Chinese nickname.

After Hong Kong's handover, he left Hong Kong on 1 July 1997, together with The Prince of Wales, on board HM Yacht Britannia.

On 11 November 2005, he revisited Hong Kong to promote his new book, Not Quite the Diplomat—Home Truths about World Affairs (ISBN 0-713-99855-5). He also participated an opening ceremony of a bakery in Mongkok, Kowloon. He ate several egg tarts, a delicacy which he is reputed to enjoy. "It makes me very emotional. As you know, I love Hong Kong. The five years I spent in Hong Kong were the happiest of my life and the happiest for my family. So it's always wonderful to come back." When asked what he was going to discuss with Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, he replied,"I think we are going to talk about Shanghai crabs." He also met with Li Ka-shing during his visit, and mentioned the education issues in Hong Kong.

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Elder statesman

In 1998, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed him a Companion of Honour. From 1998 to 1999, he chaired the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, better known as the Patten Commission, which had been established in 1998 as part of the Belfast Agreement. On 9 September 1999, the Commission produced its report, entitled A New Beginning: Policing in Northern Ireland but popularly known as the Patten Report, which contained 175 symbolic and practical recommendations. This report led to the re-naming of the Royal Ulster Constabulary as the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

In 1999, he was appointed one of the United Kingdom's two members of the Commission of the European Communities, with responsibility for Foreign Relations. He held this position within the Prodi Commission from 23 January 2000 until 22 November 2004. Although nominated for the post of President in the next Commission in 2004, he was unable to gain support from France and Germany. Once an unwelcome figure in the PRC, he was warmly greeted by PRC officials in his European Union role.

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Patten was raised to the peerage in 2005 as Lord Patten of Barnes. He is the Chancellor for the Universities of Newcastle and Oxford and a patron of the Tory Reform Group. (He was appointed Chancellor of Newcastle University in 1999, and elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 2003.) In September of 2005 he was elected a Distinguished Honourary Fellow of Massey College in the University of Toronto (the only person so elected except for the chancellor of Cambridge University, H.R.H. The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh) as well as receiving an honorary doctorate of sacred letters from the University of Trinity College, Toronto. On 29 September 2005, he published his memoirs, Chris Patten, Not Quite the Diplomat.

Lord Patten is married to Lavender, who is a barrister. They have three daughters -- Kate, Laura, and Alice; and two Norfolk terriers -- Whisky and Soda. Alice Patten played a key role in the Bollywood film Rang De Basanti and was involved in West End performance of Hamlet in 2006.

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Books

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Reference

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External links

Template:Start box {{succession box 

 | title  = Member of Parliament for Bath
 | years  = 1979–1992
 | before = Sir Edward Brown
 | after  = Don Foster

}} {{succession box 

 | title  = Secretary of State for the Environment
 | years  = 1989–1990
 | before = Nicholas Ridley
 | after  = Michael Heseltine

}} Template:Succession box Template:Succession box Template:Succession box Template:End boxde:Chris Patten ja:クリストファー・パッテン nl:Chris Patten pl:Chris Patten zh:彭定康 zh-yue:彭定康

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