The Hong Kong Diaries

Product Information

Patten has become a kind of living reminder of that shift on the right. He was the architect of Major’s 1992 election victory, built on a belief that, post-Thatcher, the party must be “tolerant, efficient and generous-spirited”. Those are three values for the scrapbook. 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. His subsequent career has been a tour of duty of threatened institutions and imperial relics, the more grown-up version of Portillo on a train. He was, of course, Britain’s last governor of Hong Kong, lampooned in Private Eye as the grand poobah, before the handover to China in 1997. 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. He was then an EU commissioner, partly responsible for the union’s foreign policy. Then chairman of the BBC Trust, fighting a rearguard action against cuts. For the last 19 years he has been chancellor of Oxford University. In each of those roles, he has been pitted not against the left, but mostly against the Daily Mail and the ideologues and nut jobs in his own party. Charles, John (14 June 2015). The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997: A Reference Guide to 1,100 Films Produced by British Hong Kong Studios. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-0262-2. In 2003 he was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree from the University of Bath. In September 2005 he was elected a Distinguished Honorary Fellow of Massey College in the University of Toronto (the only person so elected except for the Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the University of Edinburgh, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh) as well as receiving an honorary D.S.Litt. degree from the University of Trinity College, Toronto and an honorary D.Litt. degree from the University of Ulster. [59] In March 2009, Patten received the title Doctor honoris causa by South East European University. I grew up in Hong Kong and for some reason have always remembered the name of the last Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, even though I was not really interested in politics at the time. I remember driving by the Governor's house which was not far from where I lived. In May 2020, Patten said that there was a case for a multilateral mission to travel to Wuhan to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak. He argued the Chinese government had breached its obligations as a member of the World Health Organization and the 2005 International Health Regulations treaty. He also added that Britain and other countries were not against the Chinese nation or people, praising China's medical workers who first responded to the virus, but stated "It is our relationship with the dangerous and immoral Communist Party. In Wuhan the Communist party used the police to try and shut the doctors up. Totalitarian regimes always rely on secrecy and mendacity." [36] On Hong Kong [ edit ]

With Margaret Thatcher (and Michael Portillo, far right) while he was environment secretary in 1989. Photograph: Tony Harris/PAPatten was interviewed about the rise of Thatcherism for the 2006 BBC TV documentary series Tory! Tory! Tory! In Patten's diaries we see everyone from Mother Teresa to Margaret Thatcher passing through the governor's living room ... Eschewing the feathered hat, the uniform and all the other flummery that goes with governing an outpost of the British empire, he plunges into a series of walkabouts, holds public meetings, looks for ways of redistributing some wealth and makes no secret of his sympathy for the democrats. Chris Mullin, Spectator In 1989, he was promoted to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for the Environment and became responsible for the unpopular Community Charge (or so-called "Poll Tax"). Though he robustly defended the policy at the time, in his 2006 book Not Quite the Diplomat (published in the United States as Cousins and Strangers: America, Britain and Europe in the New Century) he claims to have thought it was a mistake on Margaret Thatcher's part. He also introduced, and steered through Parliament, the major legislation that became the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Like a private company director, Patten enjoyed a luxurious life, with helicopter flights, boat yachting, sport and leisure, wine and nightlife. Reflecting these advantages, The Diaries (p.41) note: It’s too depressing to think about,” Patten says. “Many good people were driven out of the Conservative party by Brexit. There are still a few. I look at people like Jeremy Hunt – though I fear it is going to ruin his leadership chances for me to say he’s perfectly good and decent.” Of course, both sides did not want to see the negotiation fail. Lu said that Patten’s insistence upon defending the principle of Chinese sovereignty on Hong Kong harmed the relationship between China and the UK. Lu planned to give Patten a gift (perhaps an agreement on the airport) but due to Patten’s tough attitude, Patten would not receive anything then. In Chinese culture, reciprocity is a virtue. If Patten gave way in the negotiation, British would also get what they wanted in return. However, Lu’s expectation was turned down. Finally, Lu warned Patten not to announce anything at all unless the agreement was first cleared from the Chinese side. The 1996 Hong Kong parody film Bodyguards of the Last Governor, presents 'Christ Pattern' as the Governor of Hong Kong. In addition to the name, Pattern appears to be based heavily on Patten, matching his appearance, political affiliation (Conservative) and family (a wife and two daughters with him in Hong Kong). His role however is minor as the film depicts him being replaced with one month to go before the handover. He is portrayed by Noel Lester Rands. [57]Patten was then appointed the last governor of Hong Kong, to oversee the final years of British administration in the colony and prepare for its transfer to China in 1997. During his tenure, his government significantly expanded the territory's social welfare programmes and introduced democratic reforms to the electoral system. [3]