Patten, Chris(topher Francis) (1944– )

British Conservative politician, governor of Hong Kong 1992–97. He was MP for Bath 1979–1992 and Conservative Party chair 1990–92, orchestrating the party's campaign for the 1992 general election, in which he lost his parliamentary seat. He accepted the governorship of Hong Kong for the crucial five years prior to its transfer to China in 1997. In 1998–99 he chaired the independent commission on policing for Northern Ireland, which reformed the Royal Ulster Constabulary. In 2000–04 he served as European commissioner for external relations and was re-elected chancellor of the University of Oxford in 2003. In 2005 he became Baron Patten of Barnes, with a seat in the House of Lords.

Although he stood on the left wing of the Conservative Party, he was appointed by prime minister Margaret Thatcher as environment secretary 1989–90, where he was responsible for administering the poll tax. In 1990, prime minister John Major appointed him chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and chairman of the Conservative Party. As governor of Hong Kong, Patten's proposals for greater democracy – which resulted in the first fully democratic elections to legislative bodies in 1994 – were welcomed by Hong Kong's legislative council but strongly opposed by the Chinese government. His pro-democracy, anti-Chinese stance won the backing of many Hong Kong residents, but was criticized by members of its business community. He was also criticized in 1995 when he suggested that UK citizenship could be extended to Hong Kong residents who wished to leave the colony after its transfer to China.

A Roman Catholic, he was educated at St Benedict's school, Ealing, and Balliol College, Oxford. He worked in the Conservative Party from 1966 and was director of its research department 1974–79. He became an MP in 1979 and served as minister for overseas development 1986–89.