The 2007 Hong Kong District Council elections were held on 18 November 2007. Elections were held to all 18

districts of Hong Kong The districts of Hong Kong are the 18 political areas of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, that are geographically and administratively divided. Each district has a district council, formerly dist ...

, returned 405 members from directly elected constituencies out of total 534 councils member. A total number of 886 candidates contesting in 364 seats, while 41 seats were uncontested. A total number of 1.4 million voters cast their ballots, consisting 38% of the electorate, significantly lower than the last elections in 2003. 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 ...

flagship party

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) is a pro-Beijing conservative political party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Starry Lee and holding 13 Legislative Council seats, it is currently the largest party in the l ...

(DAB) received the largest victory in its history, rebounding their loss from the 2003 with extra gain, taking total number of 115 seats, compared to 62 seats in the 2003 elections. The

pan-democrats 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 ...

suffered a devastating loss, with its

electoral coalition An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. Ea ...

winning only about a hundred seats out of almost 300 candidates. The pro-democracy flagship party

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

was beaten in every region especially in Kowloon, losing almost half of the seats as compared to the 2003 elections. As a result, the pan-democrats lost control of their two traditional strongholds,

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 ...

and

Kwai Tsing Kwai Tsing is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It consists of two parts - Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island. Kwai Tsing is part of the New Territories. It had a population of 520,572 in 2016. The district has the third least educated resid ...

with the help of the pro-government members appointed by

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...

to the District Councils.

Contesting parties

Parties

In September 2007, the

announced their plan to field 289 candidates in the election, including 138 incumbents and 136 newcomers after a process of coordination initiated by the

Power for Democracy Power for Democracy (; PfD) was a pro-democracy political group in Hong Kong established by a group of pro-democracy activists in 2002. It worked mainly as a mediating platform for electoral coordination between the pro-democratic parties. It ...

under the banner of

Democratic Coalition for DC Election The Democratic Coalition for DC Election (, formerly ) is an electoral co-ordination mechanism run by pro-democratic parties to avoid clashes between allies in the District Council elections. History It was first created for the 2007 Distri ...

. After the coordination, the number constituencies with more than one pro-democratic candidates reduced from 30 to 7. The pan-democrats demanded universal suffrage and abolition of the appointed seat in the District Councils as the election platform. The

, the flagship pro-democratic party fielded 114 candidates,

Civic Party The Civic Party (CP) is a pro-democracy liberal political party in Hong Kong. It is currently chaired by barrister Alan Leong. The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Basic Law Article 45 Concern Group, which was derived from the B ...

41,

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 ...

(ADPL) 38,

League of Social Democrats The League of Social Democrats (LSD) is a social democratic party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Chan Po-ying, wife of Leung Kwok-hung, it positions itself as the radical wing of the pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong), pro-democracy camp and stresses on ...

28, The Frontier 15, as well as Democratic Alliance,

Civic Act-up Civic Act-up () is a small pro-democracy political group in Hong Kong. It was founded on 24 September 2003 by a group of relatively young activists with the encouragement of Legislative Councillor Cyd Ho, to challenge the existing pro-government ...

Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) was a pro-democracy labour and political group in the Hong Kong. It was established on 29 July 1990. It had 160,000 members in 61 affiliates (mainly trade unions in various sectors) and rep ...

(CTU),

Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre The Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre (NWSC) is a pro-democracy political group in Hong Kong, holding one seat in the Legislative Council from 1995 to 1997, and since 1998. It was founded in 1985, with its roots in the New Youth Study S ...

(NWSC) and the others. The Civic Party, derived from the

Article 45 Concern Group Basic Law Article 45 Concern Group is a pro-democracy political group in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (HKSAR) . It was established on 14 November 2003 by legal practitioners and academics. It had ...

established after the 2003 July 1 protests was a relatively new party without much resources and district network with only 7 incumbent district councillors. The party fielded around 42 candidates in constituencies where the pan-democrats had not contested with its new image to appeal to the voters. Another new founded League of Social Democrats fielded about 30 candidates in lower-income areas such as

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 ...

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 ...

and

Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a town built on a bay in the western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite of Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market town of Tsuen Wan emerged from the surrounding villages and flee ...

, seeking to appeal to the lower class voters. The thinktank Savantas Policy Institute set up by former

Secretary for Security The Secretary for Security is the member of the Government of Hong Kong in charge of the Security Bureau, which is responsible for public safety, security, and immigration matters. The post was created in 1973 and since the Principal Offic ...

Regina Ip Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee (; ' Lau; born 24 August 1950) is a Chinese politician. She is currently the Convenor of the Executive Council (ExCo) and a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), as well as the founder and current chair ...

also fielded four candidates with independent affiliation in the election, including two retired civil servant and a former administrative officer.

Candidates

A historic record of 917 nominations were received since the handover of Hong Kong. 39 of the 405 seats received only one nomination thus were returned uncontestedly, of which 12 of them were taken by the

(DAB), 2 by

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and 1 by the

Cyd Ho Cyd Ho Sau-lan () is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco) for the Hong Kong Island constituency. She is a founding member of the Labour Party, since December 2011, and currently holds the position of vice-chairwoman ...

, the incumbent district councillor who beat DAB's

Ip Kwok-him Ip Kwok-him, GBM, GBS, JP (; born 8 November 1951) is a former unofficial member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, served between 2016 and 2022. He is also former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for the District Council ...

in his own constituency Kwun Lung in 2003, did not seek for re-election. Ip faced challenged by activist Ho Loy. Two Civic Party rising stars, barrister

Tanya Chan Tanya Chan (; born 14 September 1971) is a Hong Kong politician who served as a Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Legislative Councillor representing Hong Kong Island (constituency), Hong Kong Island from 2008 to 2012, and again from 2016 to 2020. ...

and Tsang Kwok-fung challenged incumbent

Peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-di ...

district councillor Lam Man-kit of the

and DAB legislator

Li Kwok-ying Li Kwok-ying MH ( Chinese: 李國英, born 18 November 1949 in Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong with family root in Baoan, Guangdong) was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong representing New Territories East and a member of Tai Po ...

Tai Po Market Tai Po Market or Tai Po Hui is the name of an area within the modern-day Tai Po New Town in the Tai Po District, in the New Territories, Hong Kong. However, its exact location changed from time to time. It is considered as the town centre of the ...

Priscilla Leung Priscilla Leung Mei-fun (; born 18 November 1960, Hong Kong) is a barrister and Hong Kong Legislative Councillor, representing the Election Committee since 2022. She previously represented the Kowloon West constituency from 2008 to 2021. She ...

, a pro-Beijing assistant professor of law at the

City University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...

also ran in the election, challenging Democrat Chan Ka-wai in Whampoa East.

Pre-election events

On 15 November, two days before the election, Ko Keung-wah, a village representative of Shung Ching San Tsuen in

Yuen Long Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu (), Tin Shui Wai, Lau Fau Shan and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin (), and to the north Nam Sang W ...

and an assistant to the

candidate Philip Wong Pak-yan in Shap Pat Heung North and Lam Tim-fook in Shap Pat Heung South, was attacked. Ko got a finger on his right hand was chopped off and suffered at least four deep slice wounds to his back and one to his abdomen. Anti-triad officers said the attack might be linked with the election. On the election day, a triad member was spotted campaigning for an independent candidate in Shap Pat Heung North influential rural leader Leung Fuk-yuen.

Results

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan=3 , Political Affiliation ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Popular vote ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , %± ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Standing ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Elected ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , ± , - , style="background-color:pink;border-bottom-style:hidden;" rowspan="11" , , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 292,916 , , 25.73 , , 2.79 , , 178 , , 115 , , 40 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Civil Force Civil Force () is a district-based pro-Beijing political party in Hong Kong. Since 2014, the Civil Force has entered an alliance with the New People's Party of Regina Ip. Headed by chairman Pun Kwok-shan, it had its stronghold in the Sha Tin and ...

, 30,880 , , 2.71 , , 0.27 , , 20 , , 18 , , 3 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 50,026 , , 4.39 , , 1.63 , , 55 , , 14 , , 3 , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU) is a pro-Beijing labour and political group established in 1948 in Hong Kong. It is the oldest and largest labour group in Hong Kong with over 420,000 members in 253 affiliates and associated ...

, 4,208 , , 0.37 , , 0.11 , , 3, , 1 , , 1 , - , style="background-color: #FF6503", , style="text-align:left;" , Tseung Kwan O Residents' Association , 1,922 , , 0.17 , , - , , 1 , , 1 , , - , - , style="background-color: #9B28E9", , style="text-align:left;" , Tin Shui Wai Women Association , 1,457 , , 0.13 , , - , , 1 , , 1 , , - , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions The Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions (HKFLU), established in 1984, is the second largest trade union in Hong Kong after the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, having 82 trade unions and more than 60,000 members in total. The ...

, 1,339 , , 0.12 , , 0.12 , , 1 , , 1 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: #004DA2", , style="text-align:left;" , New Territories General Chamber of Commerce , 818 , , 0.07 , , - , , 1 , , 0 , , - , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" ,

New Century Forum New Century Forum is a pro-Beijing middle-class oriented political group in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The group comprises professionals, businessmen and academics, and aims to represent the ...

, 543 , , 0.05 , , 0.03 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , 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 ...

, 390 , , 0.03 , , - , , 5 , , 0 , , - , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Independents , 226,645 , , 19.91 , , - , , 161 , , 118 , , , - style="background-color:Pink" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" , Total for pro-Beijing camp, , 614,621 , , 53.98 , , 7.38 , , 430 , , 273 , , 61 , - , style="background-color:lightgreen;border-bottom-style:hidden;" rowspan="12", , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 175,054 , , 15.38 , , 5.90 , , 110 , , 59 , , 21 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 52,386 , , 4.60 , , 0.46 , , 37 , , 17 , , 7 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 48,837 , , 4.29 , , - , , 41 , , 8 , , 2 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 28,601 , , 2.51 , , - , , 29 , , 6 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 12,565 , , 1.10 , , 0.24 , , 5 , , 4 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...

, 18,203 , , 1.60 , , 0.81 , , 15 , , 3 , , 3 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Yuen Long Tin Shui Wai Democratic Alliance , 9,530 , , 0.84 , , 0.04 , , 11 , , 1 , , 4 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 2,273 , , 0.20 , , 0.18 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 991 , , 0.09 , , 0.40 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Individuals , 60,510 , , 5.31 , , - , , 44 , , 10 , , - , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Total for

, , 409,573 , , 35.97 , , - , , 296 , , 108 , , - , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Independent democrats and others , 36,208 , , 3.18 , , - , , 39 , , 19 , , - , - style="background-color:lightGreen" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" , Total for pan-democracy camp , , 445,781 , , 39.15 , , 5.51 , , 335 , , 127 , , 56 , - style="background-color:#DDDDDD;" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" , Independent and others , 78,133 , , 6.86 , , 2.21 , , 142 , , 5 , , - , - , style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="3", Total (turnout 38.83%) , width="75" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 1,138,358 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 100.0 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", - , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 907 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 405 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 5

Results by district

Vote summary

Seat summary

Overview

Without a major political issue like the last election in 2003, the voter turnout significantly dropped about six percentage point to only about 38%, although a total of 1.4 million voters cast their ballots, 80,000 more than the last elections. A total number of 886 candidates contesting in 364 seats, while 41 seats were without contest. The

(DAB) received the largest victory in its history by winning 115 seats, nearly double than the 2003 results. The party vice-chairman

who lost to

in 2003 in his Kwun Lung constituency retook his seat by large margin. Kenny Lee Kwun-yee received a large number of votes in Tai Fat Hau, defeating pro-democratic candidate Ivy Chan Siu-ping of the

. Incumbent legislators

Choy So-yuk Choy So-yuk, BBS, JP (, born 10 October 1950) is a Hong Kong politician. She was an elected member of Eastern District Council and a Hong Kong Deputy of the National People’s Congress. From 1997 to 2008 she was a member of the Legislative C ...

and Wong Yung-kan all retained their seats in Kam Ping,

and Po Nga respectively. The

suffered a devastating defeat in the election. The

was beaten in every region especially in Kowloon, losing almost half of the seats as compared to the 2003 elections. Veteran Chan Ka-wai in Whampoa East was ousted by

, a pro-Beijing law scholar at the

backed by the

(FTU). In Sheung Shun, incumbent Law Chun-ngai was defeated by Fu Pik-chun of the DAB by 1,220 votes. Former Democratic Party secretary

Cheung Yin-tung Cheung Yin-tung (; born 1 May 1964) is a Hong Kong politician. He is the former secretary and treasurer of the Democratic Party and former member of the Yuen Long District Council. Biography He was a New Territories indigenous resident born ...

also lost his seat in Wang King to DAB newcomer Yiu Kwok-wai by 1,321 to 1,684 votes. The

failed to challenge the pro-Beijing candidates, winning only 8 seats out of 41 candidates. The party's rising star Yu Kwun-wai lost in a large margin to DAB's Bernard Chan in Ping Shek, while Civic legislator

Mandy Tam Mandy Tam Heung-man (Traditional Chinese: 譚香文; born 8 June 1957) is a Hong Kong politician, tax advisor and newspaper columnist who is currently a member of the Wong Tai Sin District Council, representing Lung Sing. She is also a forme ...

lost her seat to Choi Luk-sing in Lung Sing. The

(ADPL) who had stronghold in

also saw its candidate Leung Kam-tao lost his seat in

Yau Yat Tsuen Yau Yat Tsuen or Yau Yat Chuen () is one of the very few low density upscale neighbourhoods in the central urban area of Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is located in North Kowloon, at the foot of Beacon Hill. An electoral constituency of Sham Shui Po ...

to pro-Beijing independent Jimmy Kwok Chun-wah.

Richard Tsoi Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong (; born 11 September 1967) is a Hong Kong politician and the former vice-chairman of the Democratic Party (Hong Kong), Democratic Party. He ran for many Legislative Council and District Council elections and was elected ...

of the

(CTU) who took the seat in

Fo Tan Fo Tan is an area of Sha Tin District, New Territories, Hong Kong. It was developed as a light industrial area, but this activity has declined markedly in recent years. There are residential areas to the east, alongside the MTR line, and in the ...

in 2003 failed to retain his seat, being beaten by Scarlet Pong Oi-lan of the

Aftermath

In December 2007,

named 102 government-appointed Council members, of which all of them had pro-government background and one-fifth of them were members of the

(DAB) and the

. 15 of them were appointed for the third time. Tsang was criticised for not appointing a single member of the pan-democrats.Frank Ching, "Tsang grooms his kind of political talent", Pg A12, ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

'', 24 June 2008

References

{{Hong Kong elections 2007 elections in China 2007 in Hong Kong

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

November 2007 events in China