Murray MacLehose (1917–2000) was born in Glasgow, Scotland, educated at Oxford and at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and spoke Chinese; before coming to Hong Kong he was British Ambassador to Vietnam and then to Denmark. He became Hong Kong's 25th Governor in November 1971 and served ten and a half years, the longest tenure of any Governor and a decisive one in shaping modern Hong Kong. He launched the Ten-Year Housing Programme in 1972, greatly expanding public housing and speeding up new towns such as Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun. After the 1973 stock market crash and the flight of the corruption-tainted senior superintendent Peter Godber, he established the Independent Commission Against Corruption in 1974, transforming the integrity of government and society. The Country Parks Ordinance of 1976 protected about forty per cent of Hong Kong's land, the MacLehose Trail named after him opened in 1979, and nine-year free education followed in 1978; work on the Mass Transit Railway began in 1975 and the Home Ownership Scheme broadened access to flats. He also expanded the Legislative Council, raising its membership from about 26 in 1966 to 54 by 1980, and widened medical, welfare and labour protections. In March 1979 he visited Beijing and met Deng Xiaoping, the first Governor formally to raise Hong Kong's future with China, opening the way to the later Sino-British negotiations. He left office in 1982, succeeded by Edward Youde, and was created a life peer the same year; he died in 2000. Born in Glasgow in 1917, he studied at Balliol College, Oxford and at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and in the late 1930s went to China as a student interpreter. Before Hong Kong he was British Ambassador to South Vietnam (1967-1969) and to Denmark (1969-1971), arriving to take up the governorship on 19 November 1971. In office he also introduced the Home Ownership Scheme and social-welfare white papers and greatly expanded hospitals and schools. The Lady MacLehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung is named after his wife. After leaving office in 1982 he was made a life peer, sitting in the House of Lords, and died on 31 May 2000.
MacLehose's Ten-Year Housing Programme, nine-year free education and country-park policy set the framework for modern Hong Kong's housing, schooling and conservation. The founding of the ICAC reshaped the city's culture of integrity, and carrying the question of Hong Kong's future to Beijing opened the way to the Sino-British negotiations. As the longest-serving Governor, his reforms left a lasting mark on public services and the city's shape.
Achievements
- 1972 · Launched the Ten-Year Housing Programme and accelerated the development of new towns such as Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun
- 1974 · Established the Independent Commission Against Corruption to fight corruption
- 1979 · Visited Beijing and met Deng Xiaoping, the first Governor formally to raise Hong Kong's future with China