The Commercial (First) functional constituency () is a
functional constituency in the elections for 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 Kon ...
first created in 1985. The constituency is composed of corporate members of the
Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) that are entitled to vote at general meetings of the Chamber.
It is one of the oldest functional constituencies created for the
first elections to the Legislative Council in 1985. Prior to that, the Chamber had its representatives in the council thoroughly through elections at the general meetings since 1884. It corresponds to the Commercial (First) Subsector in the
Election Committee
The Election Committee is a Hong Kong electoral college, the function of which is to select the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, to elect 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong ...
.
History
The Commercial (First)
functional constituency was established as First Commercial, one of the two commercial electoral divisions elected by the
chambers of commerce. It was one of the original 12 functional constituency seats created for the
1985 Legislative Council election, the first ever election for the colonial legislature. It was composed of bodies that are members of the
Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) entitled to vote at general meetings of the chamber. Prior to that, the Chamber had its representatives in the council thoroughly through elections at the general meetings since 1884. The representatives are listed as following:
Since its creation, it has been held by pro-business conservatives for the exception of former government official
Jimmy McGregor
Sir James David McGregor (30 January 1924 – 14 July 2014) was Hong Kong colonial government official and a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for the Commercial (First) functional constituency from 1988 to 1995 and non-official ...
, a liberal-leaning representative who defeated Veronica Wu of the conservative bloc
Group of 88 in the
1988 Legislative Council election and held the office from 1988 to 1995.
He co-founded the
pro-democracy professional-oriented
Hong Kong Democratic Foundation (HKDF) and was an ally of the last
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 ...
Chris Patten
Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life ...
over the controversial
constitutional reform proposal.
From 1998 to 2004, the seat was held by pro-business
Liberal Party chairman and
Executive Council Executive Council may refer to:
Government
* Executive Council (Commonwealth countries), a constitutional organ that exercises executive power and advises the governor
* Executive Council of Bern, the government of the Swiss canton of Bern
* Ex ...
lor
James Tien until he contested in the direct election in the
2004 Legislative Council election. Tien's successor
Jeffrey Lam who has held the seat since 2004 abruptly quit the Liberal Party in 2008 in the intra-party split. He became representative for the
Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) and has become member of the Executive Council.
Return members
Electoral results
2020s
2010s
2000s
2004 Legislative Council Election – Election Results
1990s
1980s
References
{{Hong Kong Legislative Council constituencies (2021-2025)
Constituencies of Hong Kong
Constituencies of Hong Kong Legislative Council
Functional constituencies (Hong Kong)
1985 establishments in Hong Kong
Constituencies established in 1985