The Commercial (First) functional constituency () is a

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 ...

in the elections for 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 ...

first created in 1985. The constituency is composed of corporate members of the

Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC; ) was founded on 29 May 1861, and is the oldest and one of the largest business organizations in Hong Kong. It has around 4,000 corporate members, who combined employ around one-third of Hong Kon ...

(HKGCC) that are entitled to vote at general meetings of the Chamber. It is one of the oldest functional constituencies created for the first elections to the Legislative Council in 1985. Prior to that, the Chamber had its representatives in the council thoroughly through elections at the general meetings since 1884. It corresponds to the Commercial (First) Subsector in 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 ...

History

The Commercial (First)

was established as First Commercial, one of the two commercial electoral divisions elected by the

chambers of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

. It was one of the original 12 functional constituency seats created for the 1985 Legislative Council election, the first ever election for the colonial legislature. It was composed of bodies that are members of the

(HKGCC) entitled to vote at general meetings of the chamber. Prior to that, the Chamber had its representatives in the council thoroughly through elections at the general meetings since 1884. The representatives are listed as following: Since its creation, it has been held by pro-business conservatives for the exception of former government official

Jimmy McGregor Sir James David McGregor (30 January 1924 – 14 July 2014) was Hong Kong colonial government official and a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for the Commercial (First) functional constituency from 1988 to 1995 and non-official ...

, a liberal-leaning representative who defeated Veronica Wu of the conservative bloc

Group of 88 The Group of 88 is the term for those professors at Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Du ...

in the 1988 Legislative Council election and held the office from 1988 to 1995. He co-founded the

pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

professional-oriented

Hong Kong Democratic Foundation The Hong Kong Democratic Foundation (; HKDF) is a Hong Kong public policy think tank established initially as a political party on 27 October 1989. The Foundation was founded in the run up to the first Legislative Council direct elections of 19 ...

(HKDF) and was an ally of the last

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...

over the controversial constitutional reform proposal. From 1998 to 2004, the seat was held by 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 ...

chairman and Executive Councillor James Tien until he contested in the direct election in the 2004 Legislative Council election. Tien's successor

Jeffrey Lam Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, GBS, JP (; born 23 October 1951 in Hong Kong) is a non-official member of the Executive Council (Exco) and member of the Legislative Council (Legco), representing the Commercial (First) functional constituency. He is ...

who has held the seat since 2004 abruptly quit the Liberal Party in 2008 in the intra-party split. He became representative for the

Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong The Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) is a pro-business pro-Beijing political party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Lo Wai-kwok, the party is currently the second-largest party in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, holding e ...

(BPA) and has become member of the Executive Council.

Return members

Electoral results

2020s

2010s

2000s

2004 Legislative Council Election – Election Results

1990s

1980s

References

{{Hong Kong Legislative Council constituencies (2021-2025) Constituencies of Hong Kong Constituencies of Hong Kong Legislative Council Functional constituencies (Hong Kong) 1985 establishments in Hong Kong Constituencies established in 1985