The 1985 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was an
indirect election
An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office (direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the old ...
for members of the
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre 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
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represen ...
.
After the
Sino-British Joint Declaration
The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after ...
, the Hong Kong government decided to start the process of democratisation in Hong Kong based on the consultative document ''
Green Paper: the Further Development of Representative Government in Hong Kong'' published on 18 July 1984. There were 12 members elected by the
Electoral Colleges and 12 by the
functional constituencies
A functional constituency is an electoral device (a non-geographical constituency) used within the political systems of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China:
* Functional constituency (Hong Kong)
* Functional cons ...
, four official members and the rest of the seats were appointed by the
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
.
Composition
Electoral colleges
12
unofficial members were elected by the electoral college comprised all members of the
District Boards, the
Urban Council
The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...
and the new
Regional Council. In order to achieve a more balanced and adequate representation the District Boards would be grouped into ten geographical constituencies each representing approximately 500,000 people. The remaining two seats would be provided by the two special constituencies formed respectively by members of the Urban Council and the Regional Council. The interests of the
Heung Yee Kuk
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 repres ...
would be represented through the Regional Council. The 12 constituencies formed from the electoral college were:
#
East Island:
Eastern District and
Wan Chai District
Wan Chai District is one of the districts of Hong Kong, 18 districts of Hong Kong. Of the four on Hong Kong Island, it is north-central, and had 152,608 residents in 2011, a fall from 167,146 residents in 2001. The district has the second-high ...
#
West Island
The West Island () is the unofficial name given to the cities, towns and boroughs at the western end of the Island of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada. It is generally considered to consist of the Lakeshore municipalities of Dorval, Pointe-Cla ...
:
Central & Western District
The Central and Western District () located on northwestern part of Hong Kong Island is one of the 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. It had a population of 243,266 in 2016. The district has the most educated residents with the second ...
and
Southern District
#
Kwun Tong
Kwun Tong is an area in the Kwun Tong District of Hong Kong, situated at the eastern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, and its boundary stretches from Lion Rock in the north to Lei Yue Mun in the south, and from the winding paths of Kowloon ...
:
Kwun Tong District
Kwun Tong is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in Kowloon, and is the easternmost and southernmost district in Kowloon. It had a population of 648,541 in 2016. The district has the second highest population in Hong Kong, af ...
#
Wong Tai Sin
Wong Tai Sin or Huang Daxian () is a Chinese Taoist Deity popular in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and Hong Kong with the power of healing. The name, meaning the "Great Immortal Wong (Huang)", is the divine form of Huang Chuping or Wong Cho Ping (; c. 328 ...
:
Wong Tai Sin District
Wong Tai Sin District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is the only landlocked district in Hong Kong. It is located in Kowloon, and is the northernmost district in Kowloon. It borders the districts of Kwun Tong to its southeast, Ko ...
#
Kowloon City
Kowloon City is an neighbourhood, area in New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is part of Kowloon City District.
Compared with the council area of Kowloon City District, the Kowloon City area is
History
As early as in the Qin dynasty (221 BCE ...
:
Kowloon City District
Kowloon City District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the city of Kowloon. It had a population of 381,352 in 2001, and increased to 418,732 in 2016. The district has the third most educated residents while its res ...
#
Sham Shui Po
Sham Shui Po is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei (). It is located in and is the namesake of the Sham Shui P ...
:
Sham Shui Po District
Sham Shui Po District is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is the poorest district in Hong Kong, with a predominantly working-class population of 405,869 in 2016 and the lowest median household income of all districts. Sham Shui Po has long ...
#
South Kowloon:
Mong Kok District
Mong Kok District () was one of the districts of Hong Kong, covering the areas of Mong Kok and Tai Kok Tsui in Kowloon. In 1994, the district was merged with Yau Tsim District, which covered Tsim Sha Tsui, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Yau Ma Tei, King' ...
and
Yau Ma Tei District
#
East New Territories:
North District,
Tai Po District
Tai Po District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. The suburban district covers the areas of Tai Po New Town (including areas such as Tai Po Market, , Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Wo Estate), Tai Po Tau, Tai Po Kau, Hong Lok Yuen, Ti ...
and
Shatin District
Sha Tin District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. As one of the 9 districts located in the New Territories, it covers the areas of Sha Tin, Tai Wai, Ma On Shan, Fo Tan, Siu Lek Yuen, and Ma Liu Shui. The district is the most populo ...
#
West New Territories:
Yuen Long District
Yuen Long District (formerly romanised as Un Long) is one of the districts of Hong Kong. Located in the northwest of the New Territories, it had a population of 662,000 in 2021
Geography
Yuen Long District contains the largest alluvial pla ...
and
Tuen Mun District
Tuen Mun District is one of the 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. It is the westernmost continental district of Hong Kong. It had a population of 487,546 in 2011. Part of the district is the Tuen Mun New Town (or simply Tuen Mun), w ...
#
South New Territories:
Tsuen Wan District
Tsuen Wan District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is located in the New Territories and is served by the Tsuen Wan line of the MTR metro system. Its area is 60,7 km². Its residents, who mostly live in Tsuen Wan Town, enj ...
(including
Tsing Yi
Tsing Yi, sometimes referred to as Tsing Yi Island, is an island in the urban area of Hong Kong, to the northwest of Hong Kong Island and south of Tsuen Wan. With an area of , the island has extended drastically by reclamation along almost all ...
),
Islands District
The Islands District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is part of the New Territories. It had a population of 170,900 in 2018.
Hong Kong consists of a peninsula and 263 islands. The Islands District consists of some twenty large an ...
and
Sai Kung District
Sai Kung District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. The district comprises the southern half of the Sai Kung Peninsula, the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the New Territories and a strip of lan ...
#
Urban Council
The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...
#
Regional Council
Functional constituencies
Nine functional constituencies returned 12 unofficial members to the Legislative Council. The commercial, industrial, and labour constituencies would each return two unofficial members to the Legislative Council. The remaining six constituencies would each return one unofficial member. The nine functional constituencies and their representative organizations were:
# Commercial (2 seats):
##
First Commercial:
Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC; ) was founded on 29 May 1861, and is the oldest and one of the largest business organizations in Hong Kong. It has around 4,000 corporate members, who combined employ around one-third of Hong Kon ...
##
Second Commercial:
Chinese General Chamber of Commerce
The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCCHK; ) is a non-profit organization of local Chinese firms and businessmen based in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1900 by Ho Fook and Lau Chu-pak, two prominent leaders of the Chinese community during th ...
# Industrial (2 seats):
##
First Industrial:
Federation of Hong Kong Industries
The Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI; ) is a business organization for the industrial companies in Hong Kong established under the Federation of Hong Kong Industries Ordinance, of the laws of Hong Kong
The law of the Hong Kong Specia ...
##
Second Industrial:
Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong
The Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong (CMA; ) is a not-for-profit chamber of commerce established on 1 September 1934 and one of the most representative industrial associations in Hong Kong. With over 3,000 member companies from var ...
#
Financial
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
:
Hong Kong Association of Banks
The Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB; Chinese language:香港銀行公會 or 銀公會 in short) is an association created based on a series of Bank Ordinances enacted since 1948. In 1981 the association was established and replaced the Exc ...
#
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
(2 seats): all registered employee
trade unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...
#
Social Services
Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...
:
Hong Kong Council of Social Service
The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS; or 社聯) is a council coordinating NGOs in the social service field in Hong Kong, established in 1947. The Hong Kong Council of Social Service represent more than 480 Agency Members that prov ...
#
Medical
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
:
Hong Kong Medical Association
The Hong Kong Medical Association (HKMA; ), formerly called the Hong Kong Chinese Medical Association, is a medical association based in Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of t ...
#
Teaching
Teaching is the practice implemented by a ''teacher'' aimed at transmitting skills (knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills) to a learner, a student, or any other audience in the context of an educational institution. Teaching is closely re ...
#
Legal
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
#
Engineering, Architectural, Surveying and Planning
Results
Electoral College Constituencies
Functional Constituencies
See also
*
Democratic development in Hong Kong
Democratic development in Hong Kong has been a major issue since its transfer of sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997. The one country, two systems principle allows Hong Kong to enjoy high autonomy in all areas besides fore ...
*
History of Hong Kong
The region of Hong Kong has been inhabited since the Old Stone Age, later becoming part of the Chinese Empire with its loose incorporation into the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). Starting out as a farming fishing village and salt production site, ...
References
{{Hong Kong elections
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
1985 in Hong Kong
Legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
1985 elections in British Overseas Territories
September 1985 events in Asia