Alan Leong Kah-kit (; born 22 February 1958), SC is a former member of the

Hong Kong Legislative Council 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' ...

, representing the Kowloon East

geographical constituency In Hong Kong, geographical constituencies, as opposed to functional constituencies, are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated constituencies. There are currently 5 geographical constituencies in Hong Kong, return ...

, and the sitting-Chairman 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 ...

. He was also vice-chairperson of the

Independent Police Complaints Council The Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) is a civilian body of the Government of Hong Kong, part of the two-tier system in which the Hong Kong Police Force investigates complaints made by the public against its members and the IPCC ...

Early career

Leong graduated with an LLB from the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hon ...

and an LLM from

Hughes Hall Hughes Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. It is the oldest of the University of Cambridge's postgraduate colleges. The college also admits undergraduates, though undergraduates admitted by the college must ...

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He was chairman of

Hong Kong Bar Association The Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) is the professional regulatory body for barristers in Hong Kong. The Law Society of Hong Kong is the equivalent association for solicitors in Hong Kong. Victor Dawes SC is the current chairman of the Cou ...

from 2001 to 2003.

Political career

As chairperson of Hong Kong Bar Association, he mobilised many barristers to participate in the

July 1 protests The Hong Kong 1 July protests was an annual protest rally originally held by the Civil Human Rights Front from the day of handover in 1997 on the HKSAR establishment day. However, it was not until 2003 that the march drew large public attentio ...

. He won a seat in the Legislative Council in the 2004 election. In January 2011, Leong was elected the second leader of the Civic Party, replacing

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 fo ...

2007 Chief Executive election

Leong was nominated by the

as its party candidate for the Chief Executive election in 2007. He was also supported by the

pan-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 ...

, including the Democratic Party. Leong later secured 132 nominations and became the first Pan-democracy camp candidate to succeed in joining the Chief Executive election. In the end Leong lost to

Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyin ...

in the CE election on 25 March 2007, gaining 123 votes from the 800-member Election Committee.

"Five Constituencies Referendum"

In January 2010, Leong and other four lawmakers,

Albert Chan Albert Chan Wai-yip (born 3 March 1955, Hong Kong) is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong representing the New Territories West constituency. He has served as a legislator from 1991 to 2016 except for the periods 1997– ...

Tanya Chan Tanya Chan (; born 14 September 1971) is a Hong Kong politician who served as a Legislative Councillor representing Hong Kong Island from 2008 to 2012, and again from 2016 to 2020. She is a founding member of the Civic Party. Chan is sometimes kn ...

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, representing the New Territories East. A Trotskyist ...

and

Wong Yuk-man Raymond Wong Yuk-man (; born 1 October 1951) is a Hong Kong communist, pro-china, author, current affairs commentator and radio host. He is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), representing the geographical constitue ...

resigned their seats to force by-elections, in which they all stood, which they called on to be treated as a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

to press the

Chinese Central Government The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

into allowing

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

in Hong Kong. On 16 May 2010, he was re-elected as a lawmaker in the by-election.

Dissolution of the Civic Party and retirement

After the Civic Party failed to form a new executive committee in December 2022, Leong stated the party would be dissolved in 2023. He also announced his intention to retire from politics after the party's dissolution, saying he was "old enough to retire as a politician".

Personal life

Leong is married with three children.

References

External links

Personal websiteALSC ChambersOfficial websiteCE election siteOfficial blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leong, Alan 1958 births Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Cantonese people 20th-century Chinese lawyers 21st-century Chinese lawyers Living people Hong Kong Senior Counsel Alumni of Wah Yan Alumni of Hughes Hall, Cambridge Charter 08 signatories Civic Party politicians HK LegCo Members 2004–2008 HK LegCo Members 2008–2012 HK LegCo Members 2012–2016 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2017–2021