biography
| name: |
Patten, Chris(topher Francis)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1944– )
|
| biography:
| British politician, born in London, UK. He studied at Oxford, joined the Conservative Party's research department, worked in the cabinet office, and became personal assistant to the party chairman (1972–4). When the Conservatives returned to power in 1979, he held a number of non-cabinet posts, then became minister for overseas development (1986), secretary of state for the environment (1989), and party chairman (1991). Credited with master-minding the Tory victory in the 1992 election, he lost his own seat and was appointed the last Governor of Hong Kong (1992–7), where his proposals (1993) for greater democracy brought him into conflict with the Chinese government. He was made a Companion of Honour in 1998. Following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement on the Northern Ireland peace process, he was appointed chair of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland. He became a European Commissioner (with responsibility for external relations and European Union enlargement) in 1999. In 2003 he was elected Chancellor of Oxford University. |
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