The Kwun Tong District Council (Chinese: 觀塘區議會) is the district council for the Kwun Tong District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Kwun Tong District Council consists of 40 members since January 2020, of which the district is divided into 4 constituencies, electing a total of 8 members, 16 district committee members, and 16 appointed members. The council was created in April 1981 under the District Board Ordinance 1981. The last election was held on 24 November 2023.
Kwun Tong District Council 觀塘區議會 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 2 April 1981 (District Board) 1 July 1997 (Provisional) 1 January 2000 (District Council) |
| Leadership | |
Chair | Denny Ho Lap-ki, Independent |
Vice-Chair | Vacant |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 40 councillors consisting of 8 elected members 16 district committee members 16 appointed members |
11 / 40 | |
5 / 40 | |
5 / 40 | |
1 / 40 | |
23 / 40 | |
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 10 December 2023 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Unit 05-07, 20/F Millennium City 6, Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon | |
| Website | |
| www | |
History
editThe Kwun Tong District Council was established on 2 April 1981 under the name of the Kwun Tong District Board as the result of the colonial Governor Murray MacLehose's District Administration Scheme reform. The District Board was partly elected with the ex-officio Urban Council members, as well as members appointed by the Governor until 1994 when last Governor Chris Patten refrained from appointing any member.
The Kwun Tong District Board became Kwun Tong Provisional District Board after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was established in 1997 with the appointment system being reintroduced by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. The Kwun Tong District Council was established on 1 January 2000 after the first post-handover District Council election in 1999. The council has become fully elected when the appointed seats were abolished in 2011 after the modified constitutional reform proposal was passed by the Legislative Council in 2010.
The Kwun Tong District Council is one of the largest District Councils in Hong Kong. Due to its large population, the political parties' influence was countered by the conservative independent community leaders. Because of the large presence of lower-income groups and industrial character, the Kwun Tong District Council has also been a stronghold for the pro-Beijing grassroots political groups, including the Kwun Tong Residents Association headed by Hau Shui-pui, council chairman from 1997 to 2003, and Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) and its Legislative Councillor Chan Kam-lam. It also the voter base of pro-democracy politicians Szeto Wah of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (PTU), and Fred Li of the Meeting Point who was first elected to the District Board in the 1985 election and got directly elected to the Legislative Council with Szeto through the district in 1991.
The pro-democracy camp first achieved more than half of the elected seats and took control of the board in the 1994 election. The pro-democracy majority was offset by the appointed members after 1997. In the tide of democracy caused by the 2003 July 1 march, the pro-democrats again achieved majority of the elected seats but was countered by the appointed seats.[1] The pro-democracy influence shrank significantly after 2003, with the Democratic Party dropped their seats from nine seats in the 2003 election to three in their territory-wide defeat in 2007 and had not yet been able to recover from it until the 2019 landslide victory which gave the pro-democrats the control of the council with 28 of the 40 seats and Democratic Party rebounding to the largest party status.
Political control
editSince 1982 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:
| Camp in control | Largest party | Years | Composition |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Overall Control | Civic Association | 1982–1985 | |
| Pro-government | Civic Association | 1985–1988 |
|
| Pro-government | Meeting Point | 1988–1991 |
|
| No Overall Control | United Democrats | 1991–1994 |
|
| Pro-democracy | Democratic | 1994–1997 |
|
| Pro-Beijing | Democratic | 1997–1999 |
|
| Pro-Beijing | Democratic | 2000–2003 |
|
| Pro-Beijing | Democratic → DAB | 2004–2007 |
|
| Pro-Beijing | DAB | 2008–2011 |
|
| Pro-Beijing | DAB | 2012–2015 |
|
| Pro-Beijing | DAB | 2016–2019 |
|
| Pro-democracy → Pro-Beijing | Democratic → DAB | 2020–2023 |
|
| Pro-Beijing | DAB | 2024–2027 |
|
Political makeup
edit
Elections are held every four years.
| Political party | Council members | Current members | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Independent | 11 | 18 | 21 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 6 / 16
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Democratic | 7 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 1 / 16
| |||||||||||||||||||
| DAB | 4 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 6 / 16
| |||||||||||||||||||
| FPHE | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 2 / 16
| |||||||||||||||||||
| FTU | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 / 16
| |||||||||||||||||||
| KEC | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | 0 / 16
| |||||||||||||||||||
District result maps
edit-
1994 -
1999 -
2003 -
2007 -
2011 -
2015 -
2019
.svg)
Members represented
edit| Capacity | Code | Constituency | Name | Political affiliation | Term | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elected | J01 | Kwun Tong Southeast | Pang Chi-sang | FPHE | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | ||
| Kan Ming-tung | FTU | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| J02 | Kwun Tong Central | Wilson Or Chong-shing | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||
| Marco Ma Yat-chiu | New Forum | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| J03 | Kwun Tong North | Cheung Pui-kong | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||
| Fu Pik-chun | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| J04 | Kwun Tong West | Tam Siu-cheuk | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||
| Tony Lee Ka-hang | FTU | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| District Committees | Cheung Yiu-pan | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | ||||
| Derek Tsang Wing-fai | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| April Feng Yunsi | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Au Yeung Kwan-nok | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Ching Hoi-yan | FTU | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Wong Kai-san | FTU | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Cheng Keung-fung | FPHE | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Ng Ting-fung | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Sophia Lee Shuk-woon | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Yu Ka-ming | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Lam Fung | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Kam Kin | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Fong Yat-kwan | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Boe Zhan Bao-yu | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Tang Wing-chun | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Kwan Kin-wing | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Appointed | Hung Kam-in | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | ||||
| Hsu Yau-wai | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Jack Cheung Ki-tang | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Juliana Yu | DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Alan Yu Siu-lung | FTU/DAB | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Lui Tung-hai | FPHE | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Ng Si-wah | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Yu Man | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Lam Wai | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Renee Leung Sze-wan | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Lin Ho-man | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Jimmy Chan Yiu-hung | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Jackson Wong Chun-ping | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Lau Kar-wah | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Chu Lok-wai | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| Lai Wing-chun | Independent | 1 January 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
Leadership
editChairs
editSince 1985, the chairman is elected by all the members of the board:
| Chairman | Years | Political Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Tsui Kwan-ping | 1981–1982 | District Officer | |
| Kevin I. K. Mak | 1982–1985 | District Officer | |
| Lam Hang-fai | 1985–1994 | Independent | |
| Winnie Poon Yam Wai-chun | 1994–1997 | Independent | |
| Hau Shui-pui | 1997–2003 | Independent | |
| Bunny Chan Chung-bun | 2004–2019 | Independent | |
| Choy Chak-hung | 2020–2021 | Independent | |
| Wilson Or Chong-shing | 2021–2023 | DAB | |
| Denny Ho Lap-ki | 2024–present | District Officer | |
Vice Chairs
edit| Vice Chairman | Years | Political Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wu Kwok-cheung | 2000–2003 | Independent | |
| Leung Fu-wing | 2004–2007 | Independent | |
| So Lai-chun | 2008–2015 | Independent | |
| Hung Kam-in | 2016–2019 | DAB | |
| Mok Kin-shing | 2020–2021 | Democratic | |
| Lui Tung-hai | 2021–2023 | Independent | |
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "【泛民怎樣守住一區 3】老本漸散 他們在地區紮根". 立場新聞. 21 September 2015.