The 1991 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was held 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). The election of the members of

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 ...

was held on 12 September 1991 and the election of

geographical constituency In Hong Kong, geographical constituencies, as opposed to functional constituencies, are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated constituencies. There are currently 5 geographical constituencies in Hong Kong, returnin ...

seats was held on 15 September respectively. It was the first ever direct election of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong history. There were 18 members from directly elected geographical constituencies, 21 members from functional constituencies, 17 members 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 ...

, and 3 official members. A coalition of the

United Democrats The United Democrats ( el, Ενωμένοι Δημοκράτες (ΕΔΗ), ''Enomenoi Dimokrates'' (EDI)) is a liberal political party in Cyprus. The party was founded by former President of Cyprus George Vasiliou in 1993 as ''Kinima Elefther ...

and the

Meeting Point Meeting Point (Chinese: 匯點) was a liberal political organisation and party in Hong Kong formed by a group of former student activists in the 1970s and intellectuals for the discussion for the Sino-British negotiation on the question of Hong ...

, together with other smaller parties, groups and independents in the

pro-democracy camp The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic L ...

had a landslide victory, getting 16 of the 18 geographical constituency seats. Two-seat constituency two vote system was used with two seats to be filled in each constituency. The voting system helped the pro-democracy coalition win with landslide success and faced criticisms. In the end, the government prescribed simple plurality in the next election.

Background

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 ...

signed in December 1984 stated the sovereignty of Hong Kong would be transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, the pace of the democratisation towards a government of high autonomy towards 1997 became a major political debate. The Hong Kong government denied the demand of the pro-democracy groups of introducing direct elections in the 1988 Legislative Council elections, due to the main opposition from Beijing and the conservative business and professional elites. As a result, the electoral methods of the

being elected by different business and professional sectors and the Electoral Colleges being elected by the District Boards and the two municipal councils (

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 Regional Council) remained in the 1988 elections but it was promised by the government that direct elections would be introduced in the 1991 elections.

Overview

The Hong Kong government's assumed the two-seat constituencies would produce a mixture of liberal, rural conservative and business representatives as well as some members of the "

united front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...

" organisations which supported by Beijing, as the voters would cast their ballots for prominent individuals rather than a "party" label. However, the two-seat and two-vote system benefited the pro-democracy coalition in the end. The election was largely affected by the events in May and June 1989 in China when the Tiananmen Square protest was bloodily cracked down by the Beijing government. The events sparked the great fear among the Hong Kong population who closely concerned or enthusiastically supported the student movement. The pro-democracy groups supported the student protests by forming the

Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China ( zh, link=no, t=香港市民支援愛國民主運動聯合會; abbr. ; ) was a pro-democracy organisation that was established on 21 May 1989 in the then British col ...

in May 1989. After the crackdown, the liberal leaders,

Martin Lee Martin Lee Chu-ming, SC, JP (; born 8 June 1938) is a Hong Kong politician and barrister. He is the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and its successor, the Democratic Party, Hong Kong's flagship pro-democracy party. He ...

and

Szeto Wah Szeto Wah (; 28 February 1931 – 2 January 2011) was a prominent Hong Kong democracy activist and politician. He was the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the Hong Kong Profes ...

had been labelled as "subversives" by the Beijing government and expelled form the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee. In 1990, members of the three major pro-democracy groups, the

, the

Hong Kong Affairs Society The Hong Kong Affairs Society () was a middle class and professionals oriented political organisation formed in 1984 for the discussion for the Hong Kong prospect and political constitution after the handover to China with about 20 members led ...

and the

Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood The Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) is a Hong Kong pro-democracy social-liberal political party catering to grassroots interest with a strong basis in Sham Shui Po. Established on 26 October 1986, it was one o ...

came together under the banner of the United Democrats of Hong Kong, which self-proclaimed as the first political party in Hong Kong. The pro-democracy liberals won a landslide in the geographical constituency direct elections. The United Democrats led by Martin Lee became the largest party, by winning 12 of the 18 seats in the geographical constituencies. Two other seats went to its ally Meeting Point headed by

Anthony Cheung Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

. Frederick Fung, Chairman of the ADPL won a seat in

Kowloon West Kowloon West is the western part of Kowloon, covering the Yau Tsim Mong and Sham Shui Po District, with Kowloon City District occasionally included. History The boundary of Kowloon West is not strictly defined and hence varies. While traditio ...

. Of the remaining seats, one went to a liberal independent Emily Lau, one to an independent incumbent Andrew Wong and the other to an incumbent rural conservative Tai Chin-wah. The conservative Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong, newly founded in 1990 mainly by business and professional groups favouring collaboration with Beijing, polled only 5.1% of the vote. None of its candidates were elected in the direct elections. The

pro-Beijing The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp, pro-government camp or pro-China camp refers to a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Beijing central government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) t ...

"united front" organisations received only 7.9% of the vote and were also very easily defeated. Chan Yuen-han, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) candidate in Kowloon Central polled about 11,000 votes fewer than the second place United Democrat, Dr.

Conrad Lam Conrad Lam Kui-shing (born 24 November 1935 in Hong Kong with family root in Shunde, Guangdong) was the founding member of the United Democrats of Hong Kong. He was a member of the Legislative Council from 1985 to 1988 and 1991 to 1995 and Wong T ...

and was about 23,000 votes behind the winner, United Democrat Lau Chin-shek. In

Island East Taikoo Place () is a commercial building complex located in Quarry Bay, east Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It comprises grade A office towers, car parking, clubs, office apartment, parks, and shops to meet the needs from business people worldwide. ...

Cheng Kai-nam Gary Cheng Kai Nam (, born 29 May 1950, in Hong Kong with family roots in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China) is a Hong Kong politician who served as vice-chairman for the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong party. He was edu ...

who had the support of a pro-Beijing group, Hong Kong Citizen Forum, polled 29,902 against the United Democrats' leader Martin Lee, who received 76,831 votes. The advantage of the liberals was balanced with the functional constituency indirectly elected by the limited electorates of the business and professional sectors as well as the appointed members by the government. the Chief Secretary Sir David Ford said on television that the elections should be seen in the context of a 50% registration rate, of whom perhaps only 50% might turn out at the polls therefore the majority who were not represented would be reserved by appointing members who might be thought to represent those who had not registered or had not voted.

General results

, - !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" rowspan=2 colspan=3 , Political affiliation !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" colspan=4 , Geographical constituencies !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" colspan=4 , Functional constituencies !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" rowspan=2 , Total
seats , - !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;", Votes !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;", % !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;", Candidates !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;", Seats !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;", Votes !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;", % !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;", Candidates !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;", Seats , - , rowspan=5 style="background-color:LightGreen;border-bottom-style:hidden;", , width=1px style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;", United Democrats of Hong Kong , 618,209 , 45.15 , 14 , 12 , 15,208 , 66.46 , 3 , 2 , 14 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;",

, 98,588 , 7.20 , 3 , 2 , − , − , − , − , 2 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;", Hong Kong Democratic Foundation , 19,806 , 1.45 , 1 , 0 , 487 , 2.13 , 2 , 2 , 2 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;",

Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood The Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) is a Hong Kong pro-democracy social-liberal political party catering to grassroots interest with a strong basis in Sham Shui Po. Established on 26 October 1986, it was one o ...

, 60,770 , 4.44 , 3 , 1 , − , − , − , − , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;", Independents and others , 46,515 , 3.40 , 1 , 1 , − , − , − , − , 1 , -style="background-color:LightGreen" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;", Total for Liberals , 843,888 , 61.63 , 22 , 16 , 15,695 , 68.59 , 5 , 4 , 20 , - , rowspan=3 style="background-color:LightBlue;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;", Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong , 69,832 , 5.10 , 5 , 0 , 1,118 , 4.89 , 5 , 3 , 3 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;", Business and Professionals Federation of Hong Kong , − , − , − , − , 968 , 4.23 , 3 , 2 , 2 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;",

Federation for the Stability of Hong Kong The Federation for the Stability of Hong Kong (, abbreviated 穩港協; FSHK) was a pro-Beijing rural political group representing the interests of the New Territories indigenous inhabitants active in the 1990s. History The Federation was incorp ...

, 30,871 , 2.25 , 1 , 1 , 10 , 0.04 , 2 , 1 , 2 , - , -style="background-color:LightBlue" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;", Total for Conservatives , 100,703 , 7.35 , 6 , 1 , 2,096 , 9.16 , 10 , 6 , 7 , - , rowspan=4 style="background-color:Pink", , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;", Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions , 44,894 , 3.28 , 1 , 0 , – , – , 1 , 1 , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;",

New Hong Kong Alliance The New Hong Kong Alliance (, abbreviated 新港盟; NHKA) was a pro-Beijing conservative political organisation in Hong Kong in the 1990s mostly composed of businessmen and professionals. It was considered the more conservative wing of the Group ...

, 11,934 , 0.87 , 2 , 0 , 136 , 0.59 , 2 , 1 , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;", Hong Kong Citizen Forum , 29,902 , 2.18 , 1 , 0 , − , − , − , − , 0 , - , style="background-color:#9E5238", , style="text-align:left;",

Kwun Tong Man Chung Friendship Promotion Association The Kwun Tong Residents Association (, KTRA) is a long established Kaifong association rooted in Kwun Tong. It was established in 1974 and gained its status as non-profit organisation in 1999. It was seen as a traditional pro-PRC leftist group. Th ...

, 21,225 , 1.55 , 1 , 0 , − , − , − , − , 0 , - , -style="background-color:Pink" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;", Total for pro-Beijing , 107,955 , 7.88 , 5 , 0 , 136 , 0.59 , 3 , 2 , 2 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;",

Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council The Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council is the third largest trade union federation in Hong Kong, after the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) and pro-Beijing Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labou ...

, 3,393 , 0.25 , 1 , 0 , − , − , 1 , 1 , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;",

Hong Kong Civic Association The Hong Kong Civic Association is one of the longest-existing political organisations in Hong Kong. Established in 1954 by a group of teachers, professionals and businessmen, the Civic Association was one of the two semi-political parties to ...

, 14,145 , 1.03 , 1 , 0 , − , − , − , − , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;", Reform Club of Hong Kong , 8,257 , 0.60 , 1 , 0 , − , − , − , − , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color:#CC0000" , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;", October Review , 3,431 , 0.25 , 1 , 0 , − , − , − , − , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;", Independents and others , 287,561 , 21.00 , 17 , 1 , 4,957 , 21.66 , 21 , 8 , 9 , - , style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="3", Total (turnout 39.15%) , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 1,369,333 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 100.00 , width="75" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 54 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 18 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 22,884 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 100.00 , width="75" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 40 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 21 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 39 Note: There were also 18 members appointed by the Governor and 3 Ex-Officio members.

Votes summary

Seats summary

Result breakdown

Geographical Constituencies

Functional Constituencies

References

Bibliography

An Overview of the Hong Kong Legislative Council Elections of 1991
The Asian Journal of Public Administration Vol. 13 No. 2 (1991 Dec). {{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 ...

1991 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 ...

1991 elections in British Overseas Territories September 1991 events in Asia