Chris Patten's Hong Kong Diaries take us behind the scenes of 1997 handover Kevin Rudd, the former Australian prime minister and new ambassador to the United States, made himself far more. 1 episode, Merlin (20092010) as Ygraine. degree from the University of Bath. A media frenzy greeted their exuberant, mini-skirted arrival in 1992, and their gulping tears when they left five years later came to symbolise the last days of the British Empire in the territory.. In 2016, in the wake of a student movement to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes from a college in Oxford, as had happened in South Africa, Patten said that Oxford students who did not like Cecil Rhodes should "think about being educated elsewhere". Chris Patten trying to console his daughter Kate (left) on the evening of Hong Kong's handover as daughter Alice looks on. The plan was to hand the lot over to the Bodleian Library in Oxford, but he felt he should get it in order. All contributions are moderated. In May 2016, Patten said that the BBC has "lost some of its ambition" in its coverage of science, philosophy and history, and should "stretch" audiences more. He has been an opponent of the movement at Oxford to tear down the statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes. Can you tell us more about this person? 1 episode, Midsomer Murders (2004) as Emily Hide. Before that, he was the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. After he left Hong Kong, Patten was part of the EU team that negotiated Chinas accession to the World Trade Organization in 2002. The City of M. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. For a decade between 1999 and 2009, he was the Chancellor of Newcastle University. The morning after the Westminster confidence vote, he sends me an email mentioning that he is at an airport on his way to give a memorial lecture to one of his political heroes, John Hume, prime mover in the Belfast agreement now under threat. Spencer S. Hsu / Washington Post: Trump may be . He was made a life peer in 2005 and has been Chancellor of the University of . Patten grew up in an Irish Catholic family in west London, the son of an unsuccessful music publisher whose forebears had come to England from County Roscommon, Ireland. Consider its policies in Xinjiang. He was the architect of Major's 1992 election victory, built on a belief that, post-Thatcher, the party must be "tolerant,. It wasnot the first time Hong Kong netizens posted photos of Pattens family, after they left the city in 1997. His father was a jazz drummer who later became a popular music publisher. However, in 1979, he contested from Bath and won. That grim communist-speak.. SHANGHAI -- Seventeen years after sailing on Britain's Royal Yacht away from Hong Kong, the tango dancer is on the move again. He held the parliamentary seat until 1992. A practising Roman Catholic, he organized Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom in September 2010. During his time in Hong Kong, Patten and his government considerably increased the reach of the territory's social welfare programmes and brought about democratic reforms to the electoral system. Tory! 04 Dec 1998. Chris Patten was born on May 12, 1944 in Ealing, London, England. They have three daughters, Kate (born in 1973), Laura (1974) and Alice (1979). If you have information to share please complete the form below. In the last three months, he says, partly as a result of Britains generous visa scheme, there have been 100,000-plus people from Hong Kong, teachers, medics, lawyers, leaving to come here and lots of other places as well. Hes exactly what authoritarians dont like: feisty, tough, pastoral, funny. Zen reminds him, he says, of another brave, up-yours kind of person, Jonathan Mirsky, the former Observer correspondent who covered the Tiananmen Square massacre. They bought the Daily Express in the days when it was a decent newspaper., His vocation was shaped more by the timing of his birth, which came with tragedy and hope built in. Environment secretary Chris Patten (r) was charged with introducing the poll tax Instead of the tax shining a spotlight on spendthrift local councils, she said, the government was getting the. Source for information on Patten, Chris 1944-: Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series dictionary. Lord Patten married Lavender Thornton in 1971. It is hard to beat Dominic Grieves description of him as a moral vacuum., A few minutes later he phones me back. "We are very, very happy together," she says. In 1966, Chris Patten became involved with the Conservative Party. In May, Laura married Elton Charles, a florist from Paddington, whom she met seven years ago. When they learn that their coach has died, they all return to New England with their families for the funeral. 1 episode, Downtown Abbey (2014) as Diana Clark. [8], In contrast to his predecessors, Patten decided not to wear the official Court uniform on formal occasions. His second thought was metaphor. In 2003, he was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Developer Chris Patten has submitted new plans to build a four-story apartment complex at the corner of Glen and Bay streets, directly across from City Park. However, he lost his marginal seat of Bath to the Liberal Democrat candidate Don Foster at that election. [citation needed]. During his tenure, his government significantly expanded the territory's social welfare programmes and introduced democratic reforms to the electoral system.[2]. and at Queens' College, Cambridge. He was given an official Chinese name, Pang Ding-hong (Chinese: ), a name with an etymology based on the words "stability" and "calm; joyous; healthy". Patten has become a kind of living reminder of that shift on the right. He reads a lot and is keen on tennis and gardening. Patten's guest was entranced by a picture of his children on his desk and asked: "How come ugly father produce such beautiful daughters?" He served a full five-year term before his ennoblement. . [17], According to information from the US Embassy in Brussels (published by WikiLeaks in November 2010): Patten said in April 2004 that Russian President Vladimir Putin has done a good job for Russia mainly due to high world energy prices, but he had serious doubts about the man's character. Her role earned her praise from film critics in India. In 2019, amidst the protests in Hong Kong, Patten spoke out in support of the protesters. Hardback. On 23 May 2005 he was appointed by Cadbury as a non-executive director.[16]. Receiving a Coolidge travelling scholarship, he went to US, where he was part of the campaign of then-Republican New York Mayor John Lindsay. Well, there are two elements to it. He was educated in modern history at Balliol College, Oxford, graduating with a second-class honors degree in 1965. It was politically and morally difficult both for them and for us. We never talked about politics or religion at home, Patten says. Connor Patten Basketball. He was then an EU commissioner, partly responsible for the unions foreign policy. Chris Patten Writing for PS since 2000 151 Commentaries Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong and a former EU commissioner for external affairs, is Chancellor of the University of Oxford and the author of The Hong Kong Diaries (Allen Lane, 2022). St Martin's Place Had he not lost his own seat in Bath in that election, partly because he was associated with the poll tax, he would have become, at 48, chancellor of the exchequer. And cross-checking against my wifes diary, to make sure I had the days right.. This account already exists. He followed that up with the job of which he is most proud establishing a new, non-sectarian police force in Northern Ireland, as part of the Good Friday agreement. Reading it, you cant help but reflect on an essential loss of rigour in Britains dealings with the world; contrast the likes of Douglas Hurd and Malcolm Rifkind as foreign secretaries with the incumbent, Liz Truss. In 1979, he won his first parliamentary election to become an MP from Bath. Chris Daughtry 's family has confirmed his stepdaughter's cause of death. Mirsky had many Chinese friends, but he denounced the Chinese Communist party as wicked. Patten believes both politicians and businessmen are too slow to say that. On 9 September 1999, the Commission produced its report, entitled A New Beginning: Policing in Northern Ireland and popularly known as the Patten Report, which contained 175 symbolic and practical recommendations. In 1992, Chris Patten, former chairman of the Conservative Party, was appointed Hong Kong's last governor, and was the man to oversee the handover ceremony of this former British colony. Read our, {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}. Jun 2020 - Present2 years 9 months. [20], As Chairman of the BBC Trust, Patten joined the Prince of Wales and other members of the royal family in the royal box for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert. Which he thought was something which was valuable to South Africa. They have three children. In 2010, The Tablet named him as one of Britain's most influential Catholics. Do you think that they always saw through that? His work has been featured in Washington Post, Public Radio International, Hong Kong Economic Times and others. Rt hon chris patten ch former governor and commander-in-chief hong kong with his wife lavender and daughters left to right kate laura and alice at buckingham palace to receive his invest. 1 episode, New Tricks (2010) as Vicky Anderson. If you tick permission to publish your name will appear above your contribution on our website. Chris Patten, Hong Kong's last governor, handed the former colony back to China on 1 July 1997 to be ruled with a degree of autonomy under a system called "o. In September 1985, he was appointed a Minister of State in the Department of Education and Science. W e had one of those thunderbolt feelings when we saw our main home in Barnes . n Hong Kong, they were known as the Three Graces. . Despite this, he enjoyed significant popularity in Hong Kong. : Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH PC 1944 512 - . The Hong Kong Diaries by Chris Patten is published by Allen Lane . And him looking at me mystified. They have three daughters together, Katharine Joan (born 1973), Laura (1974 or 1975), and Alice (1980). I kept on saying the only bunkers in Hong Kong were on golf courses., Events of the last decade, not just in China, have shown how the liberal idea that market freedom goes hand in hand with political freedom has been disproved. London, WC2H 0HE God Save The Queen. He was European Commissioner for External Relations from 1999 to 2004 and Chairman of the BBC Trust from 2011 to 2014. And I dont see what pulls the party together again. Patten was educated at Island School in Hong Kong[1] Friday July 01 2022, 5.00pm, The Sunday Times. (2006), Points of View (1961) and The Walden Interview (1988). There is a 1930s village atmosphere, which bankers and lawyers now pay 5m to inhabit. 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