Chris Patten

Who is Chris Patten?

Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes CH PC is a British public servant. He is a former chairman of the BBC Trust and serves as Chancellor of the University of Oxford.

Patten began his career in the Conservative Party, serving as Member of Parliament for Bath and joining the cabinet. As party chairman he orchestrated the Conservatives' unexpected fourth consecutive electoral victory in 1992 but lost his own seat in the House of Commons. He accepted a posting as the last Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Hong Kong, and oversaw its handover to the People's Republic of China in July 1997. As Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Patten presided over a steady rise in the living standards of Hong Kongers while encouraging a significant expansion of Hong Kong's social welfare system.

From 1999 to 2004 he served as one of the United Kingdom's two members of the European Commission. He returned to the UK and became Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 2003. He was made a life peer in 2005. On 7 April 2011 the Queen approved Patten's appointment as the Chairman of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Patten held the position until his resignation on grounds of ill-health on 6 May 2014.