Patrick Atkinson

{{Short description|South African politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Patrick Atkinson

| honorific-suffix = MPL

| image =

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| office = Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature

| term_start =10 February 2022

| term_end =

| office1 = Member of the National Assembly of South Africa

| term_start1 = 21 May 2014

| term_end1 = 7 May 2019

| office2 = Shadow Deputy Minister of Economic Development

| term_start2 = 5 June 2014

| term_end2 = 7 May 2019

| predecessor2 = Andricus van der Westhuizen

| successor2 = Position abolished

| birthname = Patrick George Atkinson

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| nationality = South African

| party = Democratic Alliance

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| profession = Politician

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Patrick George Atkinson is a South African politician who has served as a Democratic Alliance Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. Previously he served as a City of Johannesburg municipal councillor from 2019 to 2022 and as the Shadow Deputy Minister of Economic Development and as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa between 2014 and 2019.

Parliamentary career

Prior to the 7 May 2014 general election, Atkinson was ranked 70th on the Democratic Alliance's national list and 20th on its regional Gauteng list.{{cite web |title=Mr Patrick George Atkinson |url=https://www.pa.org.za/person/patrick-george-atkinson/ |website=People's Assembly |access-date=17 October 2020}} At the election, Atkinson won a seat in the National Assembly. He was sworn in as a Member of Parliament on 21 May 2014.

On 5 June 2014, the DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane appointed him as the Shadow Deputy Minister of Economic Development, deputising for Kobus Marais.{{cite web |last1=Maimane |first1=Mmusi |title=The DA's shadow cabinet - Mmusi Maimane |url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/party/the-das-shadow-cabinet--mmusi-maimane |website=Politicsweb |access-date=17 October 2020}} He became a member of the Portfolio Committee on Economic Development on 20 June 2014.

In 2018, his committee attendance rate was 93%. Atkinson was placed 34th on the DA's provincial list for the 2019 Gauteng Provincial Legislature election. He was not elected as the DA only won 20 seats in the legislature.{{cite web |title=Election Results 2019 |url=https://www.elections.org.za/NPEDashboard/app/dashboard.html |website=IEC |access-date=17 October 2020}} Atkinson did not return to the National Assembly.

Post-parliamentary career

Soon after the 2019 election, Atkinson was sworn in as a PR councillor for the DA in Johannesburg.{{Cite web|title=City of Joburg Councillors|url=https://www.joburg.org.za/about_/government/Documents/councillors_list11.pdf|access-date=2 January 2021|website=City of Johannesburg}} On 17 March 2020, he was announced as the DA's shadow MMC (member of the mayoral committee) for finance.{{Cite news|date=17 March 2020|title=DA Joburg announces their city council shadow cabinet|work=The Citizen|url=https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/politics/2256216/da-joburg-announces-their-city-council-shadow-cabinet/|access-date=2 January 2021}}

On 10 February 2022, he was sworn in as a DA Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. He serves on the Finance Committee.{{Cite web |title=Patrick George Atkinson |url=http://www.pa.org.za/person/patrick-george-atkinson/ |access-date=2022-04-10 |website=People's Assembly |language=en}}

Personal life

Atkinson is openly gay.{{cite web |title=Out and proud l Here are ten South African openly LGBTQ MPs |url=https://www.mambaonline.com/2017/06/13/proud-sas-openly-gay-mps/ |website=Mamba Online |access-date=17 October 2020}}

References