Related Research Articles
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the domestic unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's "one country,two systems" constitutional arrangement,and is the power centre of Hong Kong's hybrid representative democracy.
In the political systems of Hong Kong,a functional constituency is a professional or special interest group involved in the electoral process. Eligible voters in a functional constituency may include natural persons as well as other designated legal entities such as organisations and corporations.
The Heung Yee Kuk,officially the Heung Yee Kuk N.T.,is a statutory advisory body representing establishment interests in the New Territories,Hong Kong. The council is a powerful organisation comprising heads of rural committees which represent villages and market towns.
The Election Committee is a Hong Kong electoral college,the function of which is to select the Chief Executive (CE) and beginning in 2021 to elect 40 members of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong Kong which states that "the Chief Executive shall be elected by a broadly representative Election Committee in accordance with this Law and appointed by the Central People's Government ." It is formed and performs its selection function once every five years,even in the event of a CE not completing their term. The membership of the Election Committee was expanded to 1,500 under the massive overhaul of the electoral system in 2021. The Election Committee has been criticised for its "small-circle" electoral basis and its composition favouring pro-Beijing and business interests.
Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee is a former Hong Kong television executive and politician. She was a member of the Legislative Council for nearly three decades,and was also a member of the Executive Council. She is honorary chairwoman of the Liberal Party,having formerly been its chairwoman.
Lau Wong-fat,GBM,GBS,OBE,JP was a Hong Kong businessman and politician. He had been the long-time chairman of the Rural Council,the most powerful organ representing the interests of the New Territories indigenous inhabitants from 1980 to 2015. He was also a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1985 to 2016. From 2009 to 2012 he was a non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. He had also served as the member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Regional Council and the Tuen Mun District Council.
The Co-operative Resources Centre was a short-lived political group in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo). Led by the Senior Unofficial Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils Allen Lee,it was established on 12 December 1991 by a group of 21 appointed and indirectly elected Legislative Council members from the functional constituencies. It became the largest conservative faction in the legislature countering the pro-democracy United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) won a landslide victory in the first direct Legislative Council election in 1991. In 1993,it was transformed into the Liberal Party.
The Heung Yee Kuk functional constituency,formerly called the Rural functional constituency,is a functional constituency in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong first created in 1991. The constituency is composed of the chairman and vice chairmen of the Heung Yee Kuk and the ex officio,special and co-opted councillors of the full Council of the Kuk. One of the functional constituencies with the fewest electorates,it had only 155 registered voters in 2020. It corresponds to the Heung Yee Kuk Subsector in the Election Committee.
The 1985 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was an indirect election for members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) held on 26 September 1985. It was the first ever election of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong which marked the beginning of the Hong Kong representative democracy.
The 1995 Hong Kong Urban Council and Regional Council elections were the municipal elections held on 5 March 1995 for the elected seats of the Urban Council and Regional Council respectively. It was the second of the three-tier elections held in 1995 under Governor Chris Patten's electoral reform,namely the 1994 District Board and 1995 Legislative Council election. The liberal Democratic Party continued its dominance by winning 23 seats in total. Due to the abolishment of the two Councils by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa in 1999,this election became the last election.
Brian Kan Ping-chee is a five-time champion horse trainer and politician in Hong Kong.
The 2000 Election Committee subsector elections were held on 9 July 2000 to elect 664 members of Election Committee. The Election Committee was responsible for electing the Legislative Council members of the Election Committee constituency,as well as the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in the following 2002 Chief Executive election.
The 1998 Election Committee subsector elections were held on 2 April 1998 to form the Election Committee responsible for electing the Chief Executive of Hong Kong as well as 10 seats of the Election Committee constituency in the first Legislative Council election in May 1998. The 800-member Election Committee was formed,consisting of 77 ex-officio members;40 members nominated by the Religious Subsector;95 returned uncontested from four subsectors;and 588 returned from 31 subsectors after the subsector elections.
The 2002 Election Committee subsector by-elections were held on 6 January 2002 to update the membership of the Election Committee for electing the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in the following Chief Executive election in March.
The 2005 Election Committee subsector by-elections were held on 1 May 2005 to fill the 33 vacancies in 17 subsectors of the Election Committee for electing the Hong Kong Chief Executive in the Chief Executive election in following March.
The 1985 Hong Kong electoral reform introduced the first ever indirect election to the colonial legislature during the last years of the British colonial rule in Hong Kong. The reform proposals was first carried out in the Green Paper:the Further Development of Representative Government in Hong Kong in July 1984 right before the Sino-British Joint Declaration in December. The reform laid the foundation of the representative democracy in Hong Kong which developed throughout the last years of the colonial rule and succeeded by the democratic development in Hong Kong after the handover of Hong Kong in 1997.
Chan Yat-san,MBE,JP was a prominent Hong Kong politician and rural leader. He was a New Territories indigenous inhabitant and Chairman of the powerful Heung Yee Kuk,and was dubbed the "King of the New Territories".
Kenneth Lau Ip-keung is a New Territories rural leader in Hong Kong. He is the current chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for the Heung Yee Kuk functional constituency,succeeding his father Lau Wong-fat in 2015 and 2016 respectively. He has been an unofficial member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong since 2017. He was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2017.
The 2016 Election Committee subsector elections were held on 11 December 2016 for 1,034 of the 1,200 members of the Election Committee (EC) which is responsible for electing the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE) in the 2017 election.
Bowie Hau Chi-keung is a rural leader and businessman in Hong Kong. He is the current chairman of the Sheung Shui Rural Committee,ex officio executive committee member of the Heung Yee Kuk and ex officio member of the North District Council.