Chris Patten (born 1944) is a British politician, born in Bath, Somerset, who read modern history at Balliol College, Oxford, and began his career in the Conservative Research Department. He was first elected as Member of Parliament for Bath in 1979, and in the 1980s held posts including Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Minister of State for Education and Science, Minister for Overseas Development and Secretary of State for the Environment, becoming Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and chairman of the Conservative Party in 1990; he helped John Major win the 1992 general election but lost his own seat in it. On 9 July 1992 he succeeded David Wilson as the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong, serving until 30 June 1997. He was the only Roman Catholic governor and one of the few drawn not from the military, the Colonial Office or the diplomatic service but from elected politics; he declined the traditional colonial uniform and, being somewhat portly, was nicknamed 'Fat Pang' by the press. He introduced a series of reforms: in 1993 he abolished the post of deputy president of the Legislative Council, ended the practice of the Governor presiding over it, and had a chairman chosen by the unofficial members; he delivered his policy address to the council each October, held public question-and-answer sessions at Hong Kong City Hall, and staged a well-publicised egg-tart tasting to present a friendly image. In October 1992 he delivered his first policy address, setting out electoral reforms: separating the Executive and Legislative Councils, abolishing all appointed seats and creating nine new functional constituencies, the 'new nine groups', so that most working people could vote and the functional seats became effectively directly elected. Beijing held that the plan breached the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the requirement of convergence with the Basic Law, and talks on the 'through train' arrangement from 1993 eventually broke down. Despite strong opposition from Beijing, the reforms were passed by the Legislative Council on 30 June 1994 and implemented in the September 1995 election, after which every seat was filled by election for the first time; Beijing then scrapped the 'through train' and set up a Provisional Legislative Council. In December 1996 Tung Chee-hwa was elected the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. At midnight on 30 June 1997 the handover ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, ending 155 years of British rule, and Patten left office. He and his family first rested in the south of France, and in 1998 he published East and West, recording his observations on the differences in values between East and West during his five years as governor; that year he also chaired the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, whose 'Patten Report' reshaped policing there, and received the Order of the Companions of Honour. He served as the European Union's Commissioner for External Relations from 2000 to 2004, was made a life peer in 2005 as Baron Patten of Barnes, and was Chancellor of Newcastle University. He chaired the BBC Trust from 2011 and stepped down early in 2014 for health reasons. He has remained closely engaged with Hong Kong affairs, frequently commenting on the Joint Declaration, the region's high degree of autonomy and the implementation of 'one country, two systems'; his memoir and speeches are an important source for the study of Hong Kong's transition.
Patten's electoral reforms made the 1995 Legislative Council the most democratically elected legislature of the colonial period, widening direct representation and government accountability in Hong Kong. But by pressing ahead without Beijing's agreement, they caused the collapse of the Sino-British talks on the 'through train' and led Beijing to create a Provisional Legislative Council, directly shaping the constitutional transition around 1997. He also changed how the Governor engaged with society, using annual policy addresses, public question-and-answer sessions and a deliberately approachable style to increase transparency. After leaving office he remained a prominent voice on Hong Kong, becoming an important international point of reference for the territory's affairs.
Achievements
- 1992 · Became Governor of Hong Kong in July and set out his electoral reform plan in October
- 1995 · After the Legislative Council election, every seat was filled by election for the first time
- 1997 · Attended the handover ceremony on 30 June as 155 years of British rule ended