:Kwun Tong District Council
{{Short description|Hong Kong district council}}
{{Use Hong Kong English|date=December 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox legislature
| name = Kwun Tong District Council
| native_name = {{noitalics|{{nobold|觀塘區議會}}}}
| transcription_name =
| legislature =
| coa_pic = Kwun Tong District Council logo.svg
| coa_res = 180px
| coa-pic =
| coa-res =
| house_type = Hong Kong District Council
| body = Kwun Tong District
| foundation = {{Start date|1981|4|2|df=y}} (District Board)
{{Start date|1997|7|1|df=y}} (Provisional)
{{Start date|2000|1|1|df=y}} (District Council)
| houses =
| leader1_type = Chair
| leader1 = Denny Ho Lap-ki
| party1 = Independent
| election1 =
| leader2_type = Vice-Chair
| leader2 = Vacant
| party2 =
| election2 =
| leader3_type =
| leader3 =
| party3 =
| election3 =
| members = 40 councillors
consisting of
8 elected members
16 district committee members
16 appointed members
| house1 =
| house2 =
| structure1 =
| structure1_res =
| structure2 =
| structure2_res =
| political_groups1 =
| political_groups2 =
| seats1_title = DAB
| seats1 = {{Composition bar|11|40|hex={{party color|DABHK}}}}
| seats2_title = FTU
| seats2 = {{Composition bar|5|40|hex={{party color|HKFTU}}}}
| seats5_title = FPHE
| seats5 = {{Composition bar|5|40|hex={{party color|Federation of Public Housing Estates}}}}
| seats8_title = New Forum
| seats8 = {{Composition bar|1|40|hex={{party color|New Century Forum}}}}
| seats9_title = Independent
| seats9 = {{Composition bar|23|40|hex={{party color|Independent politician}}}}
| committees1 =
| committees2 =
| joint_committees =
| voting_system1 = First past the post
| voting_system2 =
| last_election1 = 10 December 2023
| last_election2 =
| session_room = File:Millennium City 6.JPG
| session_res = 200px
| meeting_place = Unit 05-07, 20/F Millennium City 6, Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon
| website = {{url|http://www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/kt/}}
| footnotes =
}}
The Kwun Tong District Council ({{zh|t=觀塘區議會}}) is the district council for the Kwun Tong District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Kwun Tong District Council consists of 40 members since January 2020, of which the district is divided into 4 constituencies, electing a total of 8 members, 16 district committee members, and 16 appointed members. The council was created in April 1981 under the District Board Ordinance 1981. The last election was held on 24 November 2023.
History
The Kwun Tong District Council was established on 2 April 1981 under the name of the Kwun Tong District Board as the result of the colonial Governor Murray MacLehose's District Administration Scheme reform. The District Board was partly elected with the ex-officio Urban Council members, as well as members appointed by the Governor until 1994 when last Governor Chris Patten refrained from appointing any member.
The Kwun Tong District Board became Kwun Tong Provisional District Board after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was established in 1997 with the appointment system being reintroduced by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. The Kwun Tong District Council was established on 1 January 2000 after the first post-handover District Council election in 1999. The council has become fully elected when the appointed seats were abolished in 2011 after the modified constitutional reform proposal was passed by the Legislative Council in 2010.
The Kwun Tong District Council is one of the largest District Councils in Hong Kong. Due to its large population, the political parties' influence was countered by the conservative independent community leaders. Because of the large presence of lower-income groups and industrial character, the Kwun Tong District Council has also been a stronghold for the pro-Beijing grassroots political groups, including the Kwun Tong Residents Association headed by Hau Shui-pui, council chairman from 1997 to 2003, and Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) and its Legislative Councillor Chan Kam-lam. It also the voter base of pro-democracy politicians Szeto Wah of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (PTU), and Fred Li of the Meeting Point who was first elected to the District Board in the 1985 election and got directly elected to the Legislative Council with Szeto through the district in 1991.
The pro-democracy camp first achieved more than half of the elected seats and took control of the board in the 1994 election. The pro-democracy majority was offset by the appointed members after 1997. In the tide of democracy caused by the 2003 July 1 march, the pro-democrats again achieved majority of the elected seats but was countered by the appointed seats.{{cite news|title=【泛民怎樣守住一區 3】老本漸散 他們在地區紮根|url=https://thestandnews.com/politics/%E6%B3%9B%E6%B0%91%E6%80%8E%E6%A8%A3%E5%AE%88%E4%BD%8F%E4%B8%80%E5%8D%80-3-%E8%80%81%E6%9C%AC%E6%BC%B8%E6%95%A3-%E4%BB%96%E5%80%91%E5%9C%A8%E5%9C%B0%E5%8D%80%E7%B4%AE%E6%A0%B9/|work=立場新聞|date=2015-09-21}} The pro-democracy influence shrank significantly after 2003, with the Democratic Party dropped their seats from nine seats in the 2003 election to three in their territory-wide defeat in 2007 and had not yet been able to recover from it until the 2019 landslide victory which gave the pro-democrats the control of the council with 28 of the 40 seats and Democratic Party rebounding to the largest party status.
Political control
Since 1982 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:
class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
! Camp in control !! Largest party !! Years !! Composition |
style="background-color: #DDDDDD"
| No Overall Control || Civic Association || 1982–1985 || |
---|
style="background-color: LightBlue"
| Pro-government || Civic Association || 1985–1988 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 37 |party1 = 2 |partycolor1 = DarkGreen |party2 = 4 |partycolor2 = Green |party3 = 1 |partycolor3 = Gray |party4 = 5 |partycolor4 = Red |party5 = 14 |partycolor5 = Blue |party6 = 11 |partycolor6 = MidnightBlue }} |
style="background-color: LightBlue"
| Pro-government || Meeting Point || 1988–1991 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 40 |party1 = 2 |partycolor1 = DarkGreen |party2 = 11 |partycolor2 = Green |party3 = 1 |partycolor3 = Gray |party4 = 5 |partycolor4 = Red |party5 = 7 |partycolor5 = Blue |party6 = 14 |partycolor6 = MidnightBlue }} |
style="background-color: #DDDDDD"
| No Overall Control || United Democrats || 1991–1994 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 32 |party1 = 10 |partycolor1 = Green |party2 = 9 |partycolor2 = Red |party3 = 3 |partycolor3 = Blue |party4 = 10 |partycolor4 = MidnightBlue }} |
style="background-color: LightGreen"
| Pro-democracy || Democratic || 1994–1997 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 33 |party1 = 17 |partycolor1 = Green |party2 = 16 |partycolor2 = Red }} |
style="background-color: Pink"
| Pro-Beijing || Democratic || 1997–1999 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 41 |party1 = 17 |partycolor1 = Green |party2 = 16 |partycolor2 = Red |party3 = 8 |partycolor3 = FireBrick }} |
style="background-color: Pink"
| Pro-Beijing || Democratic || 2000–2003 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 42 |party1 = 17 |partycolor1 = Green |party2 = 17 |partycolor2 = Red |party3 = 8 |partycolor3 = FireBrick }} |
style="background-color: Pink"
| Pro-Beijing || Democratic → DAB || 2004–2007 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 42 |party1 = 20 |partycolor1 = Green |party2 = 14 |partycolor2 = Red |party3 = 8 |partycolor3 = FireBrick }} |
style="background-color: Pink"
| Pro-Beijing || DAB || 2008–2011 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 42 |party1 = 8 |partycolor1 = Green |party2 = 1 |partycolor2 = Gray |party3 = 25 |partycolor3 = Red |party4 = 8 |partycolor4 = FireBrick }} |
style="background-color: Pink"
| Pro-Beijing || DAB || 2012–2015 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 40 |party1 = 6 |partycolor1 = Green |party2 = 1 |partycolor2 = Gray |party3 = 28 |partycolor3 = Red |party4 = 5 |partycolor4 = FireBrick }} |
style="background-color: Pink"
| Pro-Beijing || DAB || 2016–2019 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 37 |party1 = 9 |partycolor1 = Green |party2 = 28 |partycolor2 = Red }} |
style="background-color: LightGreen"
| Pro-democracy → Pro-Beijing || Democratic → DAB || 2020–2023 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 40 |party1 = 28 |partycolor1 = Green |party2 = 12 |partycolor2 = Red }} |
style="background-color: Pink"
| Pro-Beijing || DAB || 2024–2027 | {{Composition_bar/advanced |divisionname = |boxwidth = 100 |total = 40 |party1 = 0 |partycolor1 = Green |party2 = 40 |partycolor2 = Red }} |
Political makeup
File:Current Map of Kwun Tong District Council.svg
Elections are held every four years.
class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" | ! rowspan="2" | Political party ! colspan="7" | Council members ! colspan="19" rowspan="2" | Current |
1994
! 1999 ! 2003 ! 2007 ! 2011 ! 2015 ! 2019 |
---|
bgcolor={{party color|Independent (politician)}} |
| style="text-align: right" | 11 | style="text-align: right" | 18 | style="text-align: right" | 21 | style="text-align: right" | 22 | style="text-align: right" | 20 | style="text-align: right" | 19 | style="text-align: right" | 18 | {{Infobox political party/seats|6|16|hex={{party color|Independent (politician)}}}} |
bgcolor={{party color|Democratic Party (Hong Kong)}} |
| style="text-align: right" | 7 | style="text-align: right" | 9 | style="text-align: right" | 9 | style="text-align: right" | 3 | style="text-align: right" | 2 | style="text-align: right" | 3 | style="text-align: right" | 9 | {{Infobox political party/seats|1|16|hex={{party color|DPHK}}}} |
bgcolor={{party color|DAB}} |
| DAB | style="text-align: right" | 4 | style="text-align: right" | 6 | style="text-align: right" | 4 | style="text-align: right" | 9 | style="text-align: right" | 12 | style="text-align: right" | 10 | style="text-align: right" | 6 | {{Infobox political party/seats|6|16|hex={{party color|DABHK}}}} |
bgcolor={{party color|Federation of Public Housing Estates}} |
| FPHE | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | 1 | style="text-align: right" | 2 | {{Infobox political party/seats|2|16|hex={{party color|Federation of Public Housing Estates}}}} |
bgcolor={{party color|Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions}} |
| FTU | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | 1 | style="text-align: right" | 2 | style="text-align: right" | 1 | {{Infobox political party/seats|1|16|hex={{party color|HKFTU}}}} |
bgcolor={{party color|Kowloon East Community}} |
| KEC | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | - | style="text-align: right" | 0 | style="text-align: right" | - | {{Infobox political party/seats|0|16|hex={{party color|Kowloon East Community}}}} |
District result maps
File:1994DBelectionmapj.svg|1994
File:1999DCelectionmapj.svg|1999
File:2003DCelectionmapj.svg|2003
File:2007DCelectionmapj.svg|2007
File:2011DCelectionmapj.svg|2011
File:Kwun Tong District Council 2015.svg|2015
File:Kwun Tong District Council (2019).svg|2019
Members represented
{{#section-h:7th District Councils of Hong Kong|Kwun Tong}}
Leadership
=Chairs=
Since 1985, the chairman is elected by all the members of the board:
class="wikitable" | |||
colspan=2| Chairman | Years | Political Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Nonpartisan}}"| | David Tsui Kwan-ping | 1981–1982 | District Officer |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Nonpartisan}}"| | Kevin I. K. Mak | 1982–1985 | District Officer |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}}"| | Lam Hang-fai | 1985–1994 | Independent |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}}"| | Winnie Poon Yam Wai-chun | 1994–1997 | Independent |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}}"| | Hau Shui-pui | 1997–2003 | Independent |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}}"| | Bunny Chan Chung-bun | 2004–2019 | Independent |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}}"| | Choy Chak-hung | 2020–2021 | Independent |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|DABHK}}"| | Wilson Or Chong-shing | 2021–2023 | DAB |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Nonpartisan}}"| | Denny Ho Lap-ki | 2024–present | District Officer |
=Vice Chairs=
class="wikitable" | |||
colspan=2| Vice Chairman | Years | Political Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}}"| | Wu Kwok-cheung | 2000–2003 | Independent |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}}"| | Leung Fu-wing | 2004–2007 | Independent |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}}"| | So Lai-chun | 2008–2015 | Independent |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|DABHK}}"| | Hung Kam-in | 2016–2019 | DAB |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|DPHK}}"| | Mok Kin-shing | 2020–2021 | Democratic |
style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}}"| | Lui Tung-hai | 2021–2023 | Independent |
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Kwun Tong District Council elections}}
{{Hong Kong topic |suffix=Council|title=District Councils of Hong Kong}}
{{Hong Kong Kwun Tong Council Constituencies}}
{{coord missing|New Kowloon}}