Chris Patten is the Chair of the Reuters Institute's Advisory Board

He was born in 1944 and educated at St Benedict’s School (Ealing) and Balliol College (Oxford). He was Director of the Conservative Research Department (1974-79), MP for Bath (1979-92), a Minister (1983-92), and Chairman of the Conservative Party (1990-92).

From 1992-97 he was Governor of Hong Kong; and from 1998-99 Chairman of the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland.

He was European Commissioner for External Affairs (1999-2004); and Chairman of the BBC Trust (2011-2014). He was made a Companion of Honour in 1998, and a Life Peer in 2005.

He has written ‘The Tory Case’, ‘East and West’, ‘Not Quite The Diplomat’ and ‘What Next? – Surviving the 21st Century’. He was Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 2003 to 2024, and is co-chair of the UK-India Round Table. He is a board member of Bridgepoint, Russell Reynolds and EDF.