Patrick Howell is a

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

n civil servant, politician, and former

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

. He is a member of Tapura Huiraatira. Howell trained as a dental surgeon and worked at the

Teva I Uta Teva I Uta is a commune of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Teva I Uta is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands, themselves part of the So ...

medical center in the early 1980s before becoming head of dental hygiene services in French Polynesia. In 1993 he became director of public health. In the 1980s he campaigned against French nuclear testing and for the creation of a health register for test workers as part of the ''Tomite No Te Rai Hau'' ("Blue Skies Committee"). In May 1994 he was appointed Minister for the Environment and Scientific Research in the government of

Gaston Flosse Gaston Flosse (born 24 June 1931) is a French politician who has been President of French Polynesia on five separate occasions. He is currently a member of the Senate of France and has been a French junior minister under Jacques Chirac. He receiv ...

. In a cabinet reshuffle in June 1995 he became Minister of Employment, while retaining his Environment portfolio. In May 1996 he was appointed Minister of Health and Scientific Research, positions he held until September 2001. In 2008 he was elected a municipal councillor in

Punaauia Punaauia is a commune in the suburbs of Papeete in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. Punaauia is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands, themselves part of ...

. In September 2014 he was appointed as Minister of Health and Solidarity in the government of

Édouard Fritch Winfred Édouard Tereori Fritch (born 4 January 1952) is a French politician who has served as President of French Polynesia since 2014. He previously presided over the Assembly of French Polynesia on three occasions: from April 2007 to February ...

. As he was a senior civil servant at the time, he had to wait at least six months before taking up his ministerial duties. In the intervening period his portfolios were managed by Vice-president Nuihau Laurey, and he was employed as a technical advisor in his office. He formally took office on 25 March 2015. In May 2015 he and five other Ministers were deemed to have resigned from the Tahoera'a after ceasing to attend their political council. In May 2015 he was appointed as one of the French Polynesian government's delegates to the newly-formed Nuclear Tests Information Commission, tasked with investigating the health and environmental impact of French nuclear testing. In October 2015 he established a health study of the inhabitants of

Hao Hao or HAO may refer to: People * Hao (surname) (Chinese: ) * Hao (video gamer), Chinese professional ''Dota 2'' player * Leo Hao, Russian artist *Heather O'Reilly, Professional soccer player Places * Hao (city), or Haojing (), capital of the ...

and

Makemo Makemo, Rangi-kemo or Te Paritua, is an atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago in French Polynesia. History Makemo is the home of legendary Polynesian hero Moeava. The first recorded European to arrive to Makemo Atoll was English pearl merchant Joh ...

, which were used as support bases for the tests. In October 2016 he was selected as Tapura's candidate for

French Polynesia's 3rd constituency French Polynesia's third constituency is a French legislative constituency in French Polynesia. It is represented by Moetai Brotherson of Tavini Huiraatira. It was created in the 2010 redistricting of French legislative constituencies, which ...

in the

2017 French legislative election Legislative elections in France were held on 11 and 18 June 2017 (with different dates for voters overseas) to elect the 577 members of the 15th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. They followed the two-round presidential election won by ...

. He surrendered his ministerial portfolios in January 2017 so he could focus on the campaign. He led in the first round, but lost to

Moetai Brotherson Moetai Charles Brotherson (born 22 October 1969) is a French Polynesian politician who has served as President of French Polynesia since 12 May 2023. He had previously represented French Polynesia's 3rd constituency in the French National Asse ...

in the second.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Patrick Living people Year of birth missing (living people) French Polynesian health professionals French Polynesian civil servants Tahoera'a Huiraatira politicians Tapura Huiraatira politicians Government ministers of French Polynesia Health ministers of French Polynesia