The Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong (, abbreviated 自民聯; LDF) was a

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 ...

pro-business A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers are ...

and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 ...

. It was established in 1990, and was composed of mainly conservative businessmen and professionals. It contested in the District Board elections, Urban and Regional Council elections and the first Legislative Council election in 1991 against the liberal

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 ...

(UDHK). It was merged into the

Hong Kong Progressive Alliance The Hong Kong Progressive Alliance (HKPA) was a Pro-Beijing camp, pro-Beijing, pro-business political party in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1994 and was merged into the Demo ...

in 1997. Chaired by

Hu Fa-kuang Hu Fa-kuang (, 14 February 1924 – 4 June 2022) was a Hong Kong businessman and politician. He was the unofficial member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and was chairman of the Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong, a conservati ...

and vice-chaired by

Maria Tam Maria Tam Wai-chu (; born 2 November 1945) is a senior Hong Kong politician and lawyer. She is a member of the Committee for the Basic Law of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) since 1997 and the chairman of the Operati ...

and

Philip Kwok Philip Kwok (; also known as Kuo Chui, Kwok Chui, Kwok Chun-Fung; born 21 October 1951) is a Hong Kong-based Taiwanese actor, martial artist, and stuntman. He rose to fame as a member of the Venom Mob, an ensemble of highly-talented marti ...

, the leading figures included

Tso Wung-wai Dr. Tso Wung-wai (; born 28 February 1941), BBS is a Hong Kong politician and chemistry professor. He is an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and has also served as a Hong Kong delegate to the National People's Congress of ...

Howard Young Howard Young How Wah (, born 30 March 1948 in Hong Kong with family roots in Xinhui, Guangdong) was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong ( Functional constituencies, Tourism) and the member of Southern District Council. He is a member ...

, and Daniel Heung.

History

The party was established by a group of conservative businesspeople and professionals in the

Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Consultative Committee (BLCC; 香港基本法諮詢委員會) was an official body established in 1985 to canvass views in Hong Kong on the drafts of the Hong Kong Basic Law. Background The f ...

(BLCC),

Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Drafting Committee (BLDC) was formed in June 1985 for the drafts of the Hong Kong Basic Law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) after 1997. It was formed as a working group ...

(BLDC), which was often called the "

Group of 89 The Group of 89 or Business and Professional Group of the Basic Law Consultative Committee was a conservative political pressure group formed by the conservative business and professional elites led by tycoon Vincent Lo in the Hong Kong Basic Law ...

", and appointed members in 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) who worried about welfare spending and adversarial on 6 November 1990, as the reaction to the liberals forming the

(UDHK) on the eve of the first direct LegCo elections. The objective of party was to support candidates to fun in the upcoming elections. Due to lack of popular basis and experience, the group invited

Maria Tam Wai-chu Maria Tam Wai-chu (; born 2 November 1945) is a senior Hong Kong politician and lawyer. She is a member of the Committee for the Basic Law of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) since 1997 and the chairman of the Operati ...

, member of the

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

and Legislative Councils and her

Progressive Hong Kong Society The Progressive Hong Kong Society (; PHKS) was a political group in Hong Kong. It was established on 14 February 1985 by the then Executive and Legislative Council member Maria Tam. The party is considered conservative and pro-Beijing, in co ...

(PHKS) to join, as well as four councillors from the Hong Kong Civic Association.

became the founding Chairman, while Maria Tam and

Philip Kwok Chi-kuen Dr. Philip Kwok Chi-kuen, SBS, JP (; born 6 December 1938) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician. Biography Kwok was born on 6 December 1938 to Kwok Lam-po and Sylvia Li Yuet-sheung. His grandfather, Kwok Chuen, was the founder of the Wing ...

the founding Vice-Chairmen. The party won 24 seats in the 1991 District Board elections, 3 seats in the 1991 Urban and Regional Councils elections and 3 seats in the 1991 LegCo elections of which were all from

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 ...

. The party's pro-Beijing and business-oriented images faced competition from new parties the Beijing-loyalist

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) and pro-business

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 ...

established in 1992 and 1993 respectively. All three LegCo members,

Ngai Shiu-kit Ngai Shiu-kit, OBE, SBS, JP (; 14 November 1924 – 2015) was a Hong Kong entrepreneur and a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (1985–97) for the Industrial (Second) constituency, representing the Chinese Manufacturers' ...

and Peter Wong left the party for the Liberal Party in 1993. The party gained back 1 seat in 1995 LegCo elections from 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 ...

with

David Chu Yu-lin David Chu may refer to: * David Chu (designer), founder of Nautica, a men's designer outerwear company * David S. C. Chu, former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness * David Chu (Hong Kong politician), member of the Legislati ...

. In 1997, the party was merged into another pro-business pro-Beijing party

Former LegCo members

Michael Cheng Michael Cheng may refer to: * Michael Cheng (businessman), Canadian entrepreneur * Michael Cheng (windsurfer) (born 1994), Hong Kong windsurfer * Michael Cheng (politician) (born 1938), member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong {{hndis, Cheng ...

* David Chu *

Chung Pui-lam Chung Pui-lam, GBS, SBS, OBE, JP (born 11 October 1940 in Hong Kong) was the member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and Sham Shui Po District Board. He became a Hong Kong government civil servant as his early career and later on stu ...

* James Tien *

Alfred Tso Alfred Tso Shiu-wai (born 11 October 1951, in Hong Kong) was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (1993–95) replacing the Gilbert Leung for the Regional Council. He was the elected member of the Tuen Mun District Board from 1982 t ...

* Peter Wong *

Election performance

Legislative Council elections

Municipal elections

District Board elections

References

{{Hong Kong political parties 1990 establishments in Hong Kong 1997 disestablishments in Hong Kong Conservative parties in Hong Kong Defunct political parties in Hong Kong Political parties disestablished in 1997 Political parties established in 1990