The Right Honourable The Lord Patten of Barnes CH PC |
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28th Governor of Hong Kong | |
In office 9 July 1992 – 30 June 1997 |
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Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by | David Wilson |
Succeeded by | Position abolished Tung Chee-hwa as Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region |
Chairman of the BBC Trust | |
In office 1 May 2011 – 6 May 2014 |
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Deputy | Diane Coyle |
Preceded by | Michael Lyons |
Succeeded by | Diane Coyle (Acting) |
Chancellor of the University of Oxford | |
Assumed office 20 September 2003 |
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Deputy |
Colin Lucas John Hood Andrew Hamilton Louise Richardson |
Preceded by | Roy Jenkins |
Chancellor of Newcastle University | |
In office 5 October 1999 – 5 October 2009 |
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Preceded by | Matthew White Ridley |
Succeeded by | Liam Donaldson |
European Commissioner for External Relations | |
In office 16 September 1999 – 22 November 2004 |
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President | Romano Prodi |
Preceded by | Leon Brittan |
Succeeded by | Benita Ferrero-Waldner |
Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
In office 28 November 1990 – 11 May 1992 |
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Leader | John Major |
Preceded by | Kenneth Baker |
Succeeded by | Norman Fowler |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
In office 28 November 1990 – 10 April 1992 |
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Prime Minister | John Major |
Preceded by | Kenneth Baker |
Succeeded by | William Waldegrave |
Secretary of State for the Environment | |
In office 24 July 1989 – 28 November 1990 |
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Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
Preceded by | Nicholas Ridley |
Succeeded by | Michael Heseltine |
Minister for Overseas Development | |
In office 10 September 1986 – 24 July 1989 |
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Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
Preceded by | Timothy Raison |
Succeeded by | Lynda Chalker |
Member of Parliament for Bath |
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In office 3 May 1979 – 10 April 1992 |
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Preceded by | Edward Brown |
Succeeded by | Don Foster |
Personal details | |
Born |
Cleveleys, UK |
12 May 1944
Political party |
Conservative (Before 2011) Crossbench (2011–present) |
Spouse(s) | Lavender Thornton |
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Signature |
Styles of The Right Honourable Christopher Patten as Governor of Hong Kong (1992-1997) |
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Reference style | His Excellency |
Spoken style | Your Excellency |
Alternative style | Sir |
Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC (born 12 May 1944) is a Crossbench member of the British House of Lords and a former British Conservative politician until 2011, as Member of the British Parliament for Bath from 1979 to 1992. He first became a junior British Government minister in 1986, and became a member of the Cabinet from 1989 to 1992, and also formerly Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992, and he was also a European Commissioner from 1999 to 2004. He is also the last (the 28th) British Governor of Hong Kong, from 1992 to 1997. In addition, he is also formerly the Governor of the BBC Trust from 2011 to 2014. Currently, he is also the Chancellor of the University of Oxford since 2003.
As Conservative party chairman, he orchestrated the Conservatives' unexpected fourth consecutive electoral victory in 1992, but unexpectedly, he lost his own seat in the House of Commons, in Bath.
He then accepted the final (the twenty-eighth) Governorship of Hong Kong until the territory's handover to China on 1 July 1997. As Governor, Patten presided over a steady rise in the living standards of Hong Kongers while encouraging a significant expansion of Hong Kong's social welfare system.