Joseph Lai Chi-keong (; born 13 December 1947) is a Hong Kong educator and politician. He is a former chairman of the

Eastern District Council The Eastern District Council is the district council for the Eastern District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Eastern District Council currently consists of 35 members, of which the district is divided into 35 constituencies, ...

and former member of the Eastern District Council since 1988, having representing Fei Tsui from 1994 until 2021. He is member of the

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 ...

and a former member 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

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 ...

Biography

As a teacher, Lai joined the

Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union The Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) was a pro-democracy trade union, professional association and social concern group in Hong Kong. Until its disbandment in 2021, it was the largest teachers' organisation in Hong Kong with s ...

(HKPTU) in the 1980s. He ran in the 1988 District Board election in Chai Wan West. He was the founding member of the

United Democrats of Hong Kong The United Democrats of Hong Kong (; UDHK) was a short-lived political party in Hong Kong founded in 1990 as the united front of the liberal democracy forces in preparation of the 1991 first ever direct election for the Legislative Council of ...

and later

. He contested in the 1995 Urban Council election in Quarry Bay and was elected with nearly 6,000 votes. He remained as

lor after 1997. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and 2004 Legislative Council elections, he ran on the Democratic Party's ticket, placing the fourth place and the third place respectively. In 2004, he as the third candidate on the list was nearly elected, being defeated by

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 ...

, the second candidate of the

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment 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) by a narrow margin. Lai was eager to run in the 2000 Hong Kong Island by-election, but was rejected by the party and the leadership decided to support barrister

Audrey Eu Audrey Eu Yuet-mee is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and was founding leader of the Civic Party. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the Civic Party, focusing on party development. In politics, Eu has foc ...

's candidate. In the 2008 Legislative Council election, Lai quit the Democratic Party after he was not nominated by the party and ran as independent. He failed to be elected with only 3,955 votes, 1.26 per cent of the total vote share. After the election, he joined Audrey Eu's

. Lai was tipped for running in the

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 ...

functional constituency 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 ...

for the Civic Party 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 ...

but did not materialise. In the 2019 District Council election after the pro-democrats received the largest landslide in history and seized the control of the 17 of the 18 District Councils, Lai was elected as the chairman of the Eastern District Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lai, Joseph Chi-keong 1947 births Living people Hong Kong educators Members of the Urban Council of Hong Kong District councillors of Eastern District United Democrats of Hong Kong politicians Democratic Party (Hong Kong) politicians Civic Party politicians Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2017–2021