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MacleanNet |
an informal meeting place for MacLeans Worldwide |
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| The former governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, is to be made a Lord after stepping down as a European Commissioner. |
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| Once tipped as a future party leader, the pro-European Conservative appeared to rule out a return to British politics in a BBC interview in 2000. The former party chairman was credited with winning the 1992 general election for John Major. But as a result he had little time to devote to his own constituency and ended up losing his own seat. |
| Soon after arriving in Hong Kong he quickly ruffled Chinese feathers by announcing proposals for the democratic reform of Hong Kong's institutions a few months into his tenure. Beijing was outraged it had not been consulted and threatened to tear up business contracts and overturn the reforms when it took control of the colony. The crisis in relations caused the Hong Kong stock market to crash in December 1992. Reforms were eventually introduced 18 months later after numerous rounds of negotiations. And Mr Patten's tough stand won him many admirers outside Beijing. The handover of Hong Kong to China in June 1997 was largely seen as a great success, and few will forget the sight of Mr Patten crying as the Union flag was taken down. Mr Patten entered politics early. He joined the UK's Conservative Party research office after graduating from Oxford University. He was elected MP for Bath in 1979, and spent most of the 1980s serving in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's governments. After returning to the UK from Hong Kong, he was appointed by the new Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair to head the independent commission on policing in Northern Ireland. The report recommended a radical overhaul of the service, and came under considerable fire from Ulster Unionists who objected to proposals for a name change, a new badge, a new oath of allegiance and a new flag. Since September 1999 Mr Patten has served as a member of the European Commission, responsible for foreign affairs and external relations. He aroused controversy in 2000 when it was suggested in the press that he found the job boring. Mr Patten has criticised what he considers the endemic waste and fraud of the European Union's foreign aid programmes and the slowness of Brussels bureaucracy. As Chancellor of both Oxford and Newcastle universities, Mr Patten has remained in the news. He criticised the government's plans for admission targets for state school pupils as amounting to "social engineering", but has defended the need for university fees. He and fellow commissioner Neil Kinnock will take seats in the Lords once the new European Commission is in place. |
| (Abbreviated from a profile by BBC News, October 2004) |
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