Chris Patten

British politician and colonial administrator · United Kingdom · On the map · Politicians · Born 1944 · age 82

Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, is a British politician who was the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992, and the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997. He was made a life peer in 2005 and served as Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 2003 to 2024.

Chris Patten is read about 565 times a day, in 33 languages.

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A life in dates

2024“[Nigel Farage] offers nothing for a healthy Conservative future.”In their words15 July 2024The IndependentRead the whole statement

2023Knight of the GarterAward2016Commander of the Legion of HonourAward2011Honorary Doctorate from University of Grenoble-IIAward2005“Those of us who had a perfectly happy childhood should be able to sue for deprivation of literary royalties.”In their wordsNot Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths about World Affairs (London: Allen Lane, 2005) ch. 1, p. 4Read the whole statement

2004Robert Schuman MedalAward1998“No other place has quite the same blend of East and West, ancient and modern, spectacular and humdrum.”In their wordsp. 10, about Hong KongRead the whole statement

“It is not unusual for electorates to want contradictory things, and politicians often make promises accordingly.”In their wordsp. 34Read the whole statement

1997In historyHong Kong HandoverWith

Margaret Thatcher1 Jul 19971996“My anxiety is not that this community's autonomy would be usurped by Beijing, but that it could be given away bit by bit by some people in Hong Kong.”In their words2 October 1996Address to the Legislative Council of Hong KongRead the whole statement

1991“There is a sort of exotic preposterousness about a lot of elections, the way arguments are made even cruder.”In their words30 June 1991Quoted in The Observer (30 June 1991). Reported in Robert Andrews (ed.) Cassell Dictionary of Contemporary Quotations (1996) p. 140Read the whole statement

1944Born12 May 1944

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Chris Patten

Child Alice Patten

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Photos 5

Patten in 1999

Patten (left) with Brian Cowen, Colin Powell and Javier Solana in March 2004

Patten in ceremonial dress as the Chancellor of the University of Oxford

Patten (right) with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in July 2020

In their own words 4

Chris Patten

4 statements, newest first

It matters to everyone [sic] of us that the press tell it as it is, not as the government wants us to hear.
May 2020 · Address to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong (May 2020). Rachel Wong, "Ex-Hong Kong governor Chris Patten 'condemned to, Own words
Asians...put more emphasis on order, stability, hierarchy, family and self-discipline than Westerners do.
1998 · p. 129, Own words
On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong became the only example of decolonization deliberately accompanied by less democracy and a weaker protection of civil liberties.
1 July 1997 · p. 70, Own words