Thomas Patton

For the Ohio politician, see Tom Patton. For the chief executive officer of Republic Steel, see Thomas F. Patton (executive).

Thomas William Saunderson Patton OBE (27 July 1914 – 20 October 1993), often known as Tommy Patton, was an Ulster unionist politician.

Thomas Patton
High Sheriff of Belfast
In office 1992–1993
Preceded by	Joe Coggle
Succeeded by	Jim Walker
Lord Mayor of Belfast
In office 1982–1983
Deputy	Ted Ashby
Preceded by	Grace Bannister
Succeeded by	Alfie Ferguson
Member of Belfast City Council
In office 15 May 1985 – 20 October 1993
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	Alan Crowe
Constituency	Victoria
In office 30 May 1973 – 15 May 1985
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	District abolished
Constituency	Belfast Area B
Personal details
Born	27 July 1914 Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died	20 October 1993
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party

Background

Patton grew up in Belfast, where he attended the Templemore Avenue School. He worked at Harland and Wolff for twenty-nine years from 1932, when he moved to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. He was elected to Belfast City Council for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) at the 1973 local election. He retired in 1982, but continued to sit on the council, serving as Lord Mayor of Belfast that year. He was appointed as High Sheriff of Belfast for 1992/3.

Patton has been described by journalist Jim McDowell as an example of a "cornerstone of what the unionist working class vote was". Sinn Féin councillor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir notes Patton's malapropisms, giving an example of "the police are no detergent against the IRA". Another example was when he told a journalist that the City Hall would be painted in durex paint, rather dulux paint.

A park in east Belfast is named in Patton's memory.