Sir Paul Elmore Oliver Bryan DSO MC (3 August 1913 – 11 October 2004) was a British Conservative politician.

[1][2][3][4] He entered as a private soldier and attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel gaining the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

[1][2][3][4] For his "outstanding" leadership shown in the capture of Centuripe, Bronte and Monte Rivoglia in Sicily, he was awarded a DSO.

[1][2][3][4] After leading his battalion at Monte Cassino, he finished the war as commandant of a training unit established at Barmouth, Wales.

[1][2][3][4] Bryan was one of the first Tory MPs after the Labour victories of 1974 to suggest openly that it was time for Edward Heath to resign.

[1][2][3][4] Through his wartime friend Denis Forman he became involved in Granada Television where Sidney Bernstein invited him to join the board.

[1][2][3][4] He took Chris Patten on his first visit to Hong Kong and later took great interest in the negotiations for the transfer of the colony to China.

[1][2][3][4] He had immense sympathy for the people of Hong Kong but believed that a handover to China was unavoidable; at the same time, he remained optimistic about the prospects for the colony under Chinese rule.