HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The New People's Party (NPP) is a
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
political party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Regina Ip, it is currently the fourth largest party in the
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
. Established by former senior government official Regina Ip in 2011, the party aims at broadening the middle class and civil servant votes where the pro-Beijing camp had traditionally underperformed. Since Ip has strongly indicated her interest in becoming
Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
and has run in
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
and
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
respectively, it has been suggested that the party is primarily a vehicle for that goal.Regina Ip hints at run for top job,
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 remaine ...
, 31 Jan 2011
The party won two seats in the 2012 Legislative Council election, with Ip re-elected in
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...
and vice chairman Michael Tien gained a seat in New Territories West. The NPP expanded its grassroots network by forming an alliance with regional political group Civil Force in 2014. With the groundwork of the Civil Force, the party gained an additional seat in New Territories East in
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
. As the NPP became closer with the Beijing authorities, Tien split from the party with six other District Councillors in 2017. Being the vocal supporter of the SAR administration, the NPP received a devastating defeat in the 2019 District Council election amid the widespread anti-government protests in 2019, with all of its 28 candidates being defeated and all of its 13 District Councillors being unseated.


Party beliefs

The party positions itself with the
pro-Beijing camp The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp or pro-China camp is a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Government of the People's Republic of China, Beijing central government and the Chinese Commun ...
. Ip has said that it targets the "
middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
", rather than the " grass-roots". Its electorate base also largely comes from the civil service, especially retired officials from the disciplined services, due to Ip's background. The party's stated platform includes
universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...
, economic diversification and the reduction in the
wealth gap The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or heterogeneity in economics, economic heterogeneity. The distribution of wealth differs from the i ...
.http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=106856&sid=30858941&con_type=1&d_str=20110110&fc=10 ''The Standard'' accessed 17 January 2011


History


Early years

The leading figure of the New People's Party is Regina Ip, who was the then Secretary for Security and the incumbent member of the
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
, as well as the chair of the think tank Savantas Policy Institute. She founded the New People's Party on 9 January 2011. Michael Tien, former vice chairman of the
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. For example, while the political systems ...
and younger brother of former Liberal Party chair James Tien, is the deputy chairman. Another deputy chairman was Louis Shih. The party intended to field ten candidates in the district council elections in November 2011. Candidates would include three former senior security service officers in Tony Liu Kit-ming, the soon-to-retire chairman of the Hong Kong Police Inspectors Association; Wat Ki-on, the retired former chairman of the Fire Services Department Ambulancemen's Union; and Tsui Chi-keung, the retired former chairman of the Fire Services Department Staff's General Association. It won four seats in total as a result. Ip announced her interest in running for the
Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
in the 2012 election, but failed to secure enough nominations to enter the race. She then endorsed
Leung Chun-ying Leung Chun-ying ( zh, t=梁振英; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Confe ...
, winner of the election. In September, both chair Regina Ip and deputy chair Michael Tien were elected to the Legislative Council in the LegCo elections. Regina Ip was subsequently appointed by Leung Chun-ying to the Executive Council in October 2012.


Alliance with Civil Force

The party expanded the network in the New Territories East by forming a
political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...
with the Civil Force in February 2014. Civil Force leader Pun Kwok-shan was appointed Vice-Chairman of the New People's Party. With 17 Civil Force District Councillors and 2 independents joined the New People's Party, the party's seat in the District Councils jumped from 12 to 31. In the 2015 District Council election, the NPP and Civil Force won 25 seats, while its seats in Tai Hang and Tai Koo Shing East in Hong Kong Island where Ip's base was taken by pro-democrats. Civil Force's base in Sha Tin was also lost to the pro-democrats with five veterans defeated by new faces. The NPP scored a victory in the 2016 Legislative Council election by taking three seats in the geographical constituencies and doubled their vote share from 3.76 to 7.73 per cent. Incumbents Regina Ip and Michael Tien both received large vote share in
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...
and the New Territories West respectively with new face Eunice Yung first elected in the New Territories East despite the allegation of her being backed by the Liaison Office.


2017 Chief Executive election and Michael Tien departure

In December 2016, the party endorsed Ip's second bid in the 2017 Chief Executive election. Due to the lobbying by the Liaison Office for former Chief Secretary Carrie Lam and pro-democrats' aim to send former
Financial Secretary Financial secretary is an administrative and executive government position within the governance of a state, corporation, private or public organization, small group or other body with financial assets. A financial secretary oversees policy con ...
John Tsang and retired judge
Woo Kwok-hing Woo Kwok-hing, GBS, CBE, QC (; born 13 January 1946) is a Hong Kong retired judge. He was the vice-president of the Court of Appeal of the High Court and former chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) and commissioner on Interc ...
into the race, Ip was squeezed out from canvassing a minimum number of 150 nominations in the 1,194-member
Election Committee The Election Committee is the electoral college in Hong Kong that selects the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, elects 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong Kong which states ...
to enter the race for the second time. After the election, Ip said that the party may reposition itself to become less pro-establishment. Michael Tien, the party deputy chairman, complained the election had "lost its shape" due to the increasing interference of "an invisible hand", referring to the Liaison Office. Tien indicated his support for John Tsang, although Ip endorsed Carrie Lam on the last day before the election. Tien eventually quit the party on 10 April with six District Councillors, citing the party's overly close tie with Beijing was one of the reasons of his departure. The numbers of Legislative Council seats dropped to two and District Councils to 19 as a result. The party nominated Southern District Councillor Judy Chan to represent in the 2018 Legislative Council Hong Kong Island by-election running against independent democrat Au Nok-hin for the seat left vacant by the oath-taking controversy which resulted in the disqualification of six legislators. The party combined forces with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) and the
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 ...
(FTU) to form a united front against the pro-democrats. As a result, Chan was narrowly defeated in the election by only three per cent of margin by receiving more than 127,000 votes. A staunch supporter of the government amid the massive protests against the extradition bill, the party saw a massive departure of its members, many of which were District Councillors. The number of District Councillors dropped from 25 in the 2015 elections to 13 only. In the 2019 District Council election, the party suffered a devastating defeat by losing all its 13 seats in the District Councils and failing to get any candidate elected in the landslide victory of the pro-democracy camp.


Current years

In February 2021, after Xia Baolong called for only "patriots" to be part of the Hong Kong government, the NPP voiced full support and claimed that " e Legislative Council and the District Council, occupied by people who oppose the country's sovereignty and endanger national security... distorted Hong Kong's political system."


Performance in elections


Chief Executive elections


Legislative Council elections


District Council elections


Representatives


Executive Council

* Regina Ip


Legislative Council


District Councils

The party holds 25 seats in eight District Councils (2024–2027):


See also

* United Front Work Department *
United Front (China) The united front is a political strategy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) involving networks of groups and key individuals that are influenced or controlled by the CCP and used to advance its interests. It has historically been a popular fr ...


References


External links


Official website
* * {{Hong Kong political parties 2011 establishments in Hong Kong Conservative parties in Hong Kong National conservative parties Political parties established in 2011 Political parties in Hong Kong