The 2015 Hong Kong District Council elections were held on 22 November 2015. Elections were held to all 18 District Councils with returning 431 members from directly elected constituencies after all appointed seats had been abolished. A record-breaking 1.4 million voters, or 47 per cent of the registered voters, went to cast their votes. The

pro-Beijing camp 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 ...

retained its control of all 18 councils with the Beijing-loyalist party Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) maintained the largest party far ahead of other parties. The pan-democrats failed to seize control of the

Kwai Tsing District Council The Kwai Tsing District Council () is the district council for the Kwai Tsing District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. It currently consists of 32 members of which 31 are directly elected from the 31 constituencies of the district, ...

, a traditional stronghold of the pan-democrats. Both sides lost their heavyweight incumbent Legislative Councillors. Albert Ho of the

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 ...

and Frederick Fung of the

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) who were both elected through

District Council (Second) The District Council (Second) functional constituency () was a functional constituency in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong which was created in the 2012 constitutional reform package. It was the largest functional constituen ...

constituency lost their seats while Civic Party's Kenneth Chan failed to take a seat in the Southern District. DAB's incumbent legislators

Christopher Chung Christopher Chung Shu-kun, SBS, JP (; born 31 March 1957, commonly known as "Tree Gun") was elected to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 2012, representing the Hong Kong Island constituency. He is also former chairman of Eastern Distri ...

and

Elizabeth Quat Elizabeth Quat Pei-fan, BBS, JP (, born 23 December 1966) is a Hong Kong politician associated with the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. She is a co-founder of the Internet Professional Association ...

both lost their seats to pro-democracy newcomers in which Chung lost his long hold seat to a relatively unknown "umbrella soldier"

Chui Chi-kin Andy Chui Chi-kin () is a member of the Eastern District Council, representing Yue Wan constituency in Hong Kong. Chui is a trader by occupation and participated in the 79-day Occupy sit-ins in 2014. Inspired by the Occupy movement, he formed ...

. Activists in the 2014 Occupy protests, who are dubbed the "umbrella soldiers", had better-than-expected results with eight of them winning a seat by beating some incumbents. The pan-democrat Neo Democrats became the best performers in the election, winning 15 out of their 16 bids and doubled their seats from 7 to 15 seats.

Boundary changes

As proposed in the

's modified electoral reform package passed in 2010, all appointed seats were abolished in this election. After a review on the number of elected seats for each District Council having regard to the population forecast in mid-2015, the

Electoral Affairs Commission The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) is the body, established under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance, that oversees electoral matters in Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Adminis ...

proposed to increase 19 elected seats in 9 District Councils: # 1 new seat for in each

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 ...

and

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

District Councils; # 2 new seats for each Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City,

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 ...

Yau Tsim Mong Yau Tsim Mong District is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong, located on the western part of Kowloon Peninsula. It is the core urban area of Kowloon. The district has the second highest population density of all districts, at . The 2016 By ...

and Sha Tin District Councils; # 3 new seats for the Sai Kung District Council; and # 4 new seats for the Yuen Long District Council. The total number of elected seats for the 2015 elections was increased by 19 from 412 to 431. Additionally, the boundaries of the Eastern and

Wan Chai Wan Chai is situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to th ...

Districts were adjusted by transferring the Tin Hau and

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

district council constituency areas from the Eastern District to the Wan Chai District.

Pre-election events

Umbrella movement

The

2014 Hong Kong protests A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after ...

sparked a fierce tussle between the pan-democrats and

as the democrats hailed a "civic awakening" while the pro-Beijing camp mobilised supporters to condemn the 79-day street blockade as an affront to the rule of law. The November District Council election was to be seen as the first big electoral test of the post-Occupy era. Both camps said events to come would have a bigger effect on voters, while the extent to which a political awakening among the city's youth would lead them to turn out to vote remains unclear. The pan-democrats encouraged young people who participated in the Occupy movement to register and vote in the district council poll.

Lead-in-water scandal

The lead-in-water scandal began in June 2015 when the

legislator,

Helena Wong Pik-wan Helena Wong Pik-wan (, born 21 March 1959) is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for Kowloon West constituency. She is also an academic staff member at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Background Wong was born in Hong K ...

announced that testing of drinking water at Kai Ching Estate in

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

revealed lead contamination. The

Hong Kong Housing Authority The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) is the main provider of public housing in Hong Kong. It was established in April 1973 under the Housing Ordinance and is an agency of the Government of Hong Kong. In the same year, the Resettlement Departm ...

subsequently confirmed that the levels of lead exceeded the standard established by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

. Since the initial discovery at Kai Tak, lead contamination of drinking water has been found at numerous other housing estates, schools, and public buildings across Hong Kong. The lead contamination scandal caused widespread concern among the public in which the Democratic Party made a major comeback by being the first to reveal the scandal while the pro-Beijing camp was told to downplay the issue.

HKU pro-vice-chancellor selection controversy

An alleged political interference behind the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

governing council's rejection of

Johannes Chan Johannes Chan Man-mun (陳文敏) SC (Hon) is an Adjunct Professor, former Chair Professor of Law (–2021) and former Dean of the Faculty of Law (2002–2014) at the University of Hong Kong. He specialises in human rights, constitutional and ...

's recommended appointment to the post of pro-vice-chancellor in charge of staffing and resources. Chan, dean of the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

sparked its climax in October 2015. The decision has received international condemnation, and is being viewed as part of a Beijing-backed curtailing of

academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...

s that will damage Hong Kong's academic reputation.

Polling irregularities

Following the last election in 2011, pan-democrats have complained of irregularities in voter registration records, and a number of candidates who lost in marginal seats made allegations of electoral fraud to the police. The government was criticised for failing to address the issue back in 2006 after alleged instances where multiple voters had registered under a same address surfaced. Before the last day for voters to check and update their particulars in order to vote in November, and for the public to report suspicious cases, the pan-democratic parties lodged a flood of complaints to the Registration and Electoral Office on 24 August 2015 about the records of over 550 voters with suspicious or false residential addresses on the eve of the election, and warning they could be "the tip of the iceberg".

Catholic bishop's anti-gay pastoral letter

On 5 November 2015, the Catholic bishop of Hong Kong

John Tong John Tong Hon (born 31 July 1939) is a Chinese prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since 2012, he was auxiliary bishop of Hong Kong from 1996 to 2008, then coadjutor bishop of the diocese for a year, and Bishop of Hong Kong from 2009 ...

urged his flock to consider candidates' views on gay rights when voting in the district council elections in a pastoral letter, as certain social movements "are challenging and twisting" the city's core values on marriage and family. "In the upcoming district council election and future polls, I urge all believers … to consider candidates' and their parties' stance on family and marriage issues, as well as their position on" a law to ban discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, Tong wrote The pan-democratic parties - who have often found common cause with the Catholic Church on matters of democracy and human rights - criticised Tong's remarks.

People Power "People Power" is a political term denoting the populist driving force of any social movement which invokes the authority of grassroots opinion and willpower, usually in opposition to that of conventionally organised corporate or political for ...

legislator

Raymond Chan Chi-chuen Raymond Chan Chi-chuen (born 16 April 1972 in Hong Kong, ), also called Slow Beat () in his radio career, is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (representing the New Territories East constituency), presenter and former c ...

, who is openly gay, criticised Tong's message and said it reflected a backward view of social movements and possibly deviated from the Vatican's line. A spokesman for the Labour Party said Tong's view was "obviously different" from the remarks of

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, who in 2013 said: "If omosexualsaccept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn't be marginalised. The omosexualtendency is not the problem."

Contesting parties and candidates

Parties

In the

, the flagship party Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) filled a total of 171 candidates in the contest, followed by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions with a total of 51 candidates of which 3 of them were also DAB members. The two relatively new pro-Beijing parties, the middle-class-oriented New People's Party (NPP) and the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) developed their forces at district level since their creations in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The New People's Party got 4 of the 12 candidates elected in 2011 and at least eight incumbent councillors had since joined the party, while a merger with

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 ...

, a local political group with strongholds in the New Territories East, brought the number up to 30. The NPP had a total of 42 contestants while the BPA had 16, slightly fewer than another pro-business party, the Liberal Party's 20 which four of the Liberal candidates failed to avoid direct competition with other pro-Beijing parties and would have to fight a fellow pro-Beijing candidate. The largest pro-democratic party

filled 95 candidates, a sharp decline from the 2011 election's 132. The

(ADPL) came after the Democrats with 26 candidates, followed by the Civic Party's 25, Neo Democrats's 16, Labour Party's 12,

's 9,

Neighbourhood and Workers 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 ...

's 6 and

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 ...

's 5. Many new pro-democracy groups formed by young people after the Occupy movement, including the Youngspiration, the

Tsz Wan Shan Constructive Power Tsz Wan Shan Constructive Power () was a local political group based in Tsz Wan Shan of Wong Tai Sin District founded in January 2015 by a group of HKGolden netizens. Inspired by the Umbrella Revolution, the group contested in the 2015 District ...

, which aimed at

Wong Tai Sin District Council The Wong Tai Sin District Council () is one of 18 such district council of Hong Kong, district councils in Hong Kong, representing the Wong Tai Sin District. The Wong Tai Sin District Council currently consists of 25 members, each elected from o ...

, the North of the Rings, which worked in Sheung Shui and

Fanling Fanling ( zh, t=粉嶺; also spelled Fan Ling or Fan Leng) is a town in the New Territories East of Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the North District. Fanling Town is the main settlement of the Fanling area. The name Fanling i ...

in North District, the

Kowloon East Community Kowloon East Community is a localist political group formed in late 2014 in Hong Kong by a group of netizens on the online forum Hong Kong Golden Forum who were inspired by 2014 Occupy protests. It focuses on livelihood issues in Kwun Tong Di ...

which had its eyes on Kwun Tong District Council, and some other groups. More than 40 activists were running in the district council elections and some of them were with the "nativist" agenda. While most Umbrella candidates have joined a co-ordination mechanism run by pan-democratic parties to avoid clashes between allies, six of them refused to do so and are running against the Democratic Party in areas where the party has had a close fight with the pro-establishment camp in previous elections.

Candidates

A record-high 951 nominations were received for which six nominees withdrew their candidatures before the deadline. A total of 66 seats were uncontested, 10 fewer than in 2011, in which almost all of them went to the pro-Beijing camp. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong claimed 20 unclaimed seats, followed by New People's Party with seven and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) with six seats, while the Liberal Party took two. Two Legislative Council members Alice Mak Mei-kuen and

Kwok Wai-keung Aron Kwok Wai-keung () is a current member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing the Labour, which he was elected to in the 2012 LegCo election and 2021 LegCo election. Kwok is a member of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Un ...

of the FTU in

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 ...

's Wai Ying and Eastern District's Provident retained their seats without contest. The Legislative Council members elected through

constituency in 2012, the former chairman of the

Albert Ho and former chairman of the

(ADPL) Frederick Fung faced fierce challenges in their Tuen Mun's Lok Tsui and Sham Shui Po's Lai Kok constituencies. Ho faced 5 rivals including former president of the Law Society of Hong Kong Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, radical localist group Civic Passion's

Cheng Chung-tai Cheng Chung-tai (; born 5 November 1983) is a Hong Kong academic, social activist, and politician. After winning a seat in the New Territories West constituency in the 2016 legislative election, he took over from Wong Yeung-tat as chairman of C ...

and three other independent candidates. Fung faced his former party member Eric Wong Chung-ki and FTU's Chan Wing-yan. Ho and Fung eventually lost their District Council seat and will have to adopt a new constituency for LegCo elections. Another District Council (Second) legislator, FTU's Chan Yuen-han and District Council (First) legislator, 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 ...

are stepping down from Wong Tai Sin's Lung Sheung and

Central and Western District The Central and Western District () located on northwestern part of Hong Kong Island is one of the districts of Hong Kong, 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. It had a population of 243,266 in 2016. The district has the most educated re ...

's Kwun Lung, meaning that they will retire from their constituencies in next year's Legislative Council election.

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;" , ± , - , width=1px style="background-color:pink;border-bottom-style:hidden;" rowspan="11" , , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong , 309,262 , , 21.39 , , 2.50 , , 171 , , 119 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" , Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions , 88,292 , , 6.11 , , 3.01 , , 48 , , 27 , , 2 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , New People's Party , 75,793 , , 5.24 , , 0.94 , , 42 , , 26 , , 1 , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" , Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong , 27,452 , , 1.90 , , - , , 16 , , 10 , , 4 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Liberal Party , 25,157 , , 1.74 , , 0.24 , , 20 , , 9 , , 1 , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Kowloon West New Dynamic Kowloon West New Dynamic is a district-based pro-Beijing political group in Hong Kong. It was founded by a group of local politicians in the western part of Kowloon on 16 March 2008. The main focus of party is to improve quality of life in th ...

, 11,647 , , 0.81 , , - , , 5 , , 3 , , 1 , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" , New Territories Association of Societies , 2,356 , , 0.16 , , 0.03 , , 2 , , 2 , , 0 , - , style="background-color:#5A3D1B", , style="text-align:left;" , Federation of Public Housing Estates , 3,457 , , 0.24 , , - , , 1 , , 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 ...

, 3,168 , , 0.22 , , 0.06 , , 2 , , 1 , , 0 , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" , New Century Forum , 1,717 , , 0.12 , , - , , 1 , , 0 , , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Pro-Beijing Independents , 241,088 , , 16.68 , , - , , 178 , , 100 , , , - style="background-color:Pink" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" , Total for pro-Beijing camp, , 788,389 , , 54.61 , , 0.81 , , 486 , , 298 , , 6 , - , style="background-color:lightgreen;border-bottom-style:hidden;" rowspan="23", , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 196,068 , , 13.56 , , 3.86 , , 95 , , 43 , , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 55,275 , , 3.82 , , 0.03 , , , 26 , , 18 , , 2 , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" , Neo Democrats , 42,148 , , 2.92 , , 0.77 , , 16 , , 15 , , 8 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Civic Party , 52,346 , , 3.62 , , 0.41 , , 25 , , 10 , , 3 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

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 ...

, 16,105 , , 1.11 , , 0.11 , , 6 , , 5 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Labour Party , 23,029 , , 1.59 , , - , , 12 , , 3 , , 2 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Power for Democracy , 3,938 , , 0.27 , , 0.05 , , 1 , , 1 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Sha Tin Community Network , 3,718 , , 0.26 , , - , , 2 , , 1 , , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 6,526 , , 0.45 , , 1.40 , , 5 , , 0 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Individuals , 52,612 , , 3.64 , , - , , 38 , , 9 , , , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;" , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Total for

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 ...

, , 451,765, , 31.25 , , 0.04, , 226 , , 105 , , 21 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Youngspiration , 12,520 , , 0.87 , , - , , 9 , , 1 , , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Alliance , 5,313 , , 0.37 , , - , , 4 , , 1 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 3,922 , , 0.27 , , - , , 3 , , 1 , , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , The Frontier , 2,974 , , 0.21 , , - , , 1 , , 1 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 11,503 , , 0.80 , , 1.19 , , 9 , , 0 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color:#149DA8" , , style="text-align:left;" , Tuen Mun Community , 5,196 , , 0.36 , , - , , 4 , , 0 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Civic Passion , 3,006 , , 0.21 , , - , , 6 , , 0 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 3,633 , , 0.25 , , - , , 2 , , 0 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color:#44C4DD" , , style="text-align:left;" , North of the Rings , 1,710 , , 0.12 , , - , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Land Justice League The Land Justice League is a Hong Kong activist group that co-opts other social groups who are interested in a common cause known as “land justice”. The membership is roughly divided into two groups—one rooted in activist movements dati ...

, 1,482 , , 0.10 , , 0.16 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color:#FDB623" , , style="text-align:left;" , Tsuen Wan Dynamic for the People , 1,500 , , 0.10 , , - , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Independent democrats and others , 77,767 , , 5.38 , , - , , 66 , , 17 , , , - style="background-color:LightGreen" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" , Total for pro-democracy camp, , 581,058 , , 40.20 , , 1.00 , , 335 , , 126 , , 25 , - style="background-color:#DDDDDD;" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" , Independent and others , 75,079 , , 5.19 , , 0.19 , , 114 , , 7 , , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="3", Total valid votes , width="75" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 1,445,526 , 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", 935 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 431 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 19 , - , style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="3", Invalid votes , width="75" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 21,703 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9" rowspan=2 colspan=5 , , - , style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="3", Total (turnout 47.01%) , width="75" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 1,467,229

Results by district

Vote summary

Seat summary

Outcome

HK District Council 2015 in honeycomb grids

A historic turnout rate of 47 percent turnout rate was recorded in the election, of which ten constituencies with the highest turnout rates were all middle-class residential districts. The

remained control of all 18 District Councils with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) the largest party far ahead of the others with 119 seats. The

pan-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 of Hong Kong, Chief Executive and the Legislative Cou ...

failed to reclaim control of the

which they won majority of the elected seats but was balanced by the appointed seats in the last election. Both pan-democrats and pro-Beijing camp won 19 seats in the Sha Tin District Council but pro-Beijing retained control with the ''ex officio'' seat of the Sha Tin Rural Committee Chairman. Two pro-democracy

"super seat" legislative councillors Albert Ho and Frederick Fung were unseated by newcomers, while another pro-democracy figure

James To James To Kun-sun (; ; born 11 March 1963) is a Hong Kong lawyer and Democratic Party politician. From 1991 to 2020, To was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing the District Council (Second) constituency. In his fina ...

kept his seat in

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and became the only one of the three pro-democracy super seat lawmakers to be able to seek a re-election in the same constituency in the next year's Legislative Council election . In Lai Kok, Fung won 2,432 votes, 99 short of won by his challenger, 25-year-old Chan Wing-yan supported by both the DAB and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), while Fung’s former ally Eric Wong Chung-ki, who also stood against him in the same constituency, won 215 votes. In Lok Tsui, Albert Ho won 1,617 votes, 125 fewer than former Law Society of Hong Kong president Junius Ho, while radical democrat Civic Passion's

took 391 votes. At least eight candidates inspired by the 2014 Occupy protests scored unexpected success, with

, almost unknown to the public before he was elected, beat DAB legislator

with 2,017 votes against Chung's 1,829 votes in

Yue Wan Yue Wan (died 368) was a general and politician of Former Yan during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He defended Fancheng (凡城, in modern Kazuo County, Liaoning) from Later Zhao in 339 and helped defeat Ran Min with Yao Xiang and Shi Zhi during ...

. Another DAB legislator

also lost her seat in Chung On to pro-democracy Labour Party Yip Wing. Wong Chi-ken, another of the dozens of 'Umbrella soldiers' ran under the banner of

, won 1,729 votes against incumbent Fung Kam-yuen in Lok Wah North, who scored 1,246 votes. Clarisse Yeung, who ran in Tai Hang constituency, won 1,398 votes, 250 more votes than Gigi Wong Ching-chi of the New People's Party (NPP). In Whampoa East, Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) legislator

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 ...

, who won 2,314 votes and beat 24-year-old Yau Wai-ching, another “Umbrella soldier” of Youngspiration, by fewer than 300 votes. Another Youngspiration candidate Kwong Po-yin defeated incumbent Kowloon City District Council chairman Lau Wai-wing by 39 votes in Whampoa West. The Neo Democrats, a breakaway group of the Democratic Party, fared especially well, winning 15 of 16 district seats they contested which made their total seats jumped from 8 to 15. The Civic Party won 10 seats in total, although legislator Kenneth Chan failed in his bid to run in South Horizons East and to secure an entry ticket to a super seat next year. The Democratic Party won one more seat and scored 43 in total. Several second-tier figures, including vice-chairman

Lo Kin-hei Lo Kin-hei (; born 1 June 1984) is the Chairman of the Democratic Party and Southern District Council. He has been a Southern District Councillor for Lei Tung II constituency from 2012 to 2021. Career Born in 1984, Lo graduated from the Univ ...

and chief executive

Lam Cheuk-ting Lam Cheuk-ting (; born 13 June 1977) is a Democratic Party politician in Hong Kong. He is a former investigator of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and chief executive of the Democratic Party. He was a member of the North ...

, scored victories in Lei Tung II and

Shek Wu Hui Shek Wu Hui () is a non-administrative subdivision (neighbourhood) and former indigenous market town located in Sheung Shui in the North District of Hong Kong. The place name can be found in the record that published in 1819. Administration For ...

respectively, while others like vice-chairman Andrew Wan lost in

Shek Yam Shek Yam Estate () is a public housing estate in North Kwai Chung, New Territories, Hong Kong. It was the first Government Low Cost Housing Scheme estate in Kwai Chung. It had 8 blocks built in 1968, which were all demolished in the 1990s and 200 ...

. The FTU, which its district councillors had dropped their dual membership of DAB and FTU to rally behind Chan Yuen-han in the District Council (Second) "super seat" in the

2012 Legislative Council election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

, won 27 seats in total under the FTU banner solely and secured a qualification to nominate a candidate for the "super seat" in next year's election. The New People's Party, although having formed an alliance with the

, suffered unexpected defeats in Sha Tin as many veteran Civil Force district councillors were defeated by pro-democratic new faces. In Hong Kong Island, chairwoman Regina Ip's Legislative Council constituency, the NPP also lost a few seats such as Tai Hang and Tai Koo Shing East. A total of eight victors were employees of state-owned enterprises. The local subsidiary of China Travel Service announced on its website after the election that six of their employees had won seats. The CTS staff association praised “the ‘love the country love Hong Kong’ and society-serving spirit of the CTS staff ... nd their.. substantial contributions to the group’s involvement in Hong Kong’s social affairs”. There were two others in addition to the six from CTS, and some had stood for election previously. None had disclosed their relationships with the state-owned firms in their official election platforms.

Aftermath

Cheng Wing-kin case

Cheng Wing-kin, an online radio host, was revealed and He offered localist groups more than HK$850,000 for each of them to take on pan-democrat contenders in specified constituencies, including the offers of between HK$150,000 and HK$200,000 to five individuals, including Youngspiration's Baggio Leung Chung-hang, upon the instructions of a Putonghua-speaking “Boss Li”, whom was allegedly from Beijing’s

United Front Work Department The United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (UFWD; ) is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which is officially tasked with "united front work". For this endeavo ...

. Leung declined and publicised the offer, in eventually led to Cheng being convicted for engaging in corrupt conduct at the election.

References

External links

Official website

2015 District Council Election official website

Manifestos and platforms

* Civic Party
參選宣言
* Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong
''"Serving You with Sincerity and Dedication"''
*

區議會選舉 2015 十二大政綱 Election Platform
*

反對操弄，雨傘起動
{{Umbrella Movement

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2015 elections in China 2015 in Hong Kong November 2015 events in China