The 2003 Hong Kong District Council elections were held on 23 November 2003 for all 18

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of Hong Kong, 400 members from directly elected constituencies out of total 529 council members. It was the second District Council election after the

handover of Hong Kong Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the British Hong Kong, former colony. Hong Kong was establ ...

in 1997. The election was historically significant as it was the first election came after the controversies over the legislation of the

Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 () is an article in the Hong Kong Basic Law, Basic Law, the organic law, constitution of Hong Kong. It states that Hong Kong "shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subvers ...

and the large-scale July 1 protests in mid-2003 against the unpopular

Tung Chee-hwa Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chin ...

administration. The election saw the devastating defeat of the pro-government

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 ...

. The pro-Beijing flagship party Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) received the largest defeat in the elections, only 62 of the 206 of its candidates were elected. The party's heavyweights, Yeung Yiu-chung,

Lau Kong-wah Lau or LAU may refer to: People * Lau (surname) * Liu (劉/刘), a common Chinese family name transliterated Lau in Cantonese and Hokkien * Lau clan, one of the Saraswat Brahmin clans of Punjab * LAU (musician): Laura Fares Places * Lebanese ...

and

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 ...

all lost their seats to the pro-democracy challengers, with Ip lost his longtime base of Kwun Lung to Cyd Ho of The Frontier.

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 ...

also faced challenge from

Leung Kwok-hung Leung Kwok-hung ( zh, t=梁國雄; born 27 March 1956), also known by his nickname "Long Hair" (), is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Legislative Council, representing the N ...

of April Fifth Action, only retained her seat with narrow margin. DAB chairman Tsang Yok-sing resigned for the party's defeat after the election, and subsequently was replaced by

Ma Lik Ma Lik, GBS, JP (; 23 February 1952 – 8 August 2007), was a Legislative Councillor, and was the Chairman of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), a pro-Beijing political party in Hong Kong. Education Ma Lik attended ...

. The pro-democracy camp received overall success, with

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 ...

winning the most of 95 seats. After the election, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa appointed 102 pro-government members to the District Councils to dilute the influence of the pro-democrats and retained control of some of the councils.

Overview

Before the elections were held, media had speculated the effect of the controversy over the legislation of the

to the

. With the surge of popularity after the 2003 July 1 protests, the

pro-democrats 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 and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic L ...

managed to present a united platform in the District Council election. More than two hundred candidates form all pro-democracy parties and groups supported the direct election of the Chief Executive by 2007; direct elections of all seats of the Legislative Council by 2008; the initiation of public consultations on political reforms by the government before the end of 2003; and the abolition of all appointed seats to the District Councils after the November 2003 elections. The pro-democrat candidates challenged the heavyweights of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), the flagship pro-government party in many constituencies, including the party vice-chairman

's Kwun Lung,

's Kam Ping, Yeung Yiu-chung's Mei Foo South and

's Kam To. Lau Kong-wah stood in Kam To, challenging

's Shirley Ho Suk-ping. As Lau was the Legislative Councillor for

New Territories East New Territories East is the eastern part of New Territories, covering North, Tai Po, Sha Tin, and Sai Kung District. History All districts except Sai Kung District have been connected by the Kowloon–Canton Railway (now East Rail line) since it ...

, pro-democrats saw Kam To as a crucial target. Icons like Audrey Eu,

Alan Leong Alan Leong Kah-kit (; born 22 February 1958), SC is a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, representing the Kowloon East geographical constituency, and the sitting-Chairman of the Civic Party. He was also vice-chairperson of th ...

and

Cheung Man-kwong Cheung Man-kwong (, born 15 September 1954) is a Hong Kong politician, who is a member of the Yuen Long District Council. Background Born in Hong Kong with family roots in Taishan, Cheung was a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council repres ...

took turns campaigning for Shirley Ho. Standing in the traditional

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

community Kam Ping, Choy so-yuk faced the challenged from

of the April Fifth Action, while The Frontier's Cyd Ho stood in Kwun Lung against Ip Kwok-him. Both Ho and Ip were members of the Legislative Council, while Ip chaired the Legco committee on the national security bill. Ho was supported by Article 45 Concern Group's Ronny Tong and Ip was supported by the DAB chairman Tsang Yok-sing. An unprecedented record of 44 percent, in total of 1.06 millions voters cast their vote in the election. In result, Yeung Yiu-chung, Lau Kong-wah and Ip Kwok-him were all defeated by the pro-democrats while Choy So-yuk retained her seat with narrow margin. The pro-democracy flagship party

became the clear winner by winning the most number of 95 seats. Cyd Ho's

Civic Act-up Civic Act-up () is a small pro-democracy political group in Hong Kong. It was founded on 24 September 2003 by a group of relatively young activists with the encouragement of Legislative Councillor Cyd Ho, to challenge the existing pro-government ...

which was established after the July 1 protest also captured three seats in the Wan Chai District Council and was able to control the council for the first time with the other independent councillors. Only 62 of the 206 DAB candidates were elected, which became the worst defeat in DAB's history. Tsang Yok-sing took responsibility for the electoral setback and resigned his chairman post. He claimed that the defeat was due to the DAB's unfortunate "Tung loyalist" public image.

Results

General outcome

, - ! 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;" , ± , - , style="background-color:pink;border-bottom-style:hidden;" rowspan="10" , , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong , 241,202 , , 22.94 , , 0.59 , , 200 , , 62 , , 21 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

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 ...

, 25,720 , , 2.45 , , 0.02 , , 22 , , 17 , , 3 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Liberal Party , 29,108 , , 2.77 , , 0.65 , , 27 , , 14 , , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Hong Kong Progressive Alliance , 29,091 , , 2.77 , , 0.05 , , 23 , , 13 , , 5 , - , style="background-color: #E50500", , style="text-align:left;" , Wan Chai Community Union , 1,189 , , 0.11 , , - , , 1 , , 1 , , - , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions , 2,766 , , 0.26 , , 0.13 , , , 3 , , 0 , , - , - , style="background-color: #FF8C00", , style="text-align:left;" , New Youth Forum , 1,314 , , 0.12 , , - , , 2 , , 0 , , - , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" , New Century Forum , 833 , , 0.08 , , - , , 1 , , 0 , , - , - , 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 ...

, - , , - , , - , , 1 , , 1 , , - , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Independent and others , 156,827 , , 14.92 , , - , , 136 , , 92 , , 6 , - , - style="background-color:Pink" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" , Total for pro-Beijing camp , , 489,889 , , 46.48 , , 0.97 , , 417, , 201 , , 28 , - , style="background-color:lightgreen;border-bottom-style:hidden;" rowspan="13", , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 223,675 , , 21.27 , , 3.57 , , 120 , , 95 , , 17 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

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 ...

, 53,264 , , 5.07 , , 0.36 , , 37 , , 25 , , 4 , - , style="background-color: ", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...

, 25,349 , , 2.41 , , 1.25 , , 14 , , 6 , , 1 , - , 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 ...

, 14,146 , , 1.35 , , 0.94 , , 5 , , 4 , , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Yuen Long Tin Shui Wai Democratic Alliance The Democratic Alliance, formerly called Yuen Long Tin Shui Wai Democratic Alliance, was a small pro-democracy pro-ROC political group in Hong Kong established in 2003 and dissolved in 2021. The final chairman of the alliance was Johnny Mak ...

, 8,418 , , 0.80 , , - , , 6 , , 4 , , 2 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 5,170 , , 0.49 , , - , , 5 , , 3 , , 3 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Central and Western Democratic Power Central and Western Democratic Power is a local political group in the Central and Western district of Hong Kong. It was convened by Kam Nai Wai, a member of Democratic Party and Central and Western District Councillor, and is mainly composed of ...

, 5,748 , , 0.55, , - , , 4 , , 2 , , - , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) was a pro-democracy labour and political group in the Hong Kong. It was established on 29 July 1990. It had 160,000 members in 61 affiliates (mainly trade unions in various sectors) and rep ...

, 4,032 , , 0.38 , , - , , 3 , , 2 , , 2 , - , style="background-color: #1c41e0", , style="text-align:left;" , Yuen Long Democratic Alliance , 1,489 , , 0.14 , , - , , 1 , , 1 , , - , - , width=1px style="background-color: #FF7312" , , style="text-align:left;" , 7.1 People Pile , 2,888 , , 0.27 , , - , , 3 , , 0, , - , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , April Fifth Action , 1,149 , , 0.11 , , - , , 1 , , 0 , , - , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Citizens Party , 361 , , 0.03 , , 0.22 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1 , - , width=1px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Independent democrats , 130,453 , , 12.41 , , - , , 87 , , 56 , , 8 , - style="background-color:LightGreen" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" , Total for pro-democracy camp , , 477,596 , , 45.54 , , 10.29 , , 288 , , 198 , , 38 , - , - style="background-color:#DDDDDD;" , colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" , Independent and others , 83,939 , , 7.98 , , - , , 132 , , 1 , , - , - , style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="3", Total (turnout 44.10%) , width="75" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 1,051,424 , 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", 837 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 400 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 10

Results by district

Vote summary

Seat summary

Aftermath

In December 2003 after the elections, Tung appointed 21 political party appointees to the District Councils to dilute the influence of the pro-democrats as follows:Frank Ching, "Tsang grooms his kind of political talent", Pg A12, ''

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 remained ...

'', 24 June 2008 * 8 members of the Liberal Party * 6 members of the DAB * 6 members from the Progressive Alliance * 1 from the New Century Forum Professor of politics and sociology at

Lingnan University Lingnan University (LN/LU), formerly called Lingnan College, is a public liberal arts university in Hong Kong. It aims to provide students with an education in the liberal arts tradition and has joined the Global Liberal Arts Alliance since ...

, Dr. Li Pang-kwong said "As in the past, most of the appointees were pro-government or persons without a clear political stance... ensur ngthat no district council is in the hands of the democrats." A spokesman for the democrats said the appointees "will have an unfair advantage in that they are getting financial support from the government which will help them run for office in future elections."Michael Ng
Tung picks 'dilute' bodies
, ''The Standard'', 29 December 2003

References

{{Hong Kong elections 2003 elections in Asia 2003 elections in China 2003 in Hong Kong

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

November 2003 events in China