Eastern District Council

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Eastern District Council

東區區議會
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
History
Founded
  • 28 October 1981 (1981-10-28) (District Board)
  • 1 July 1997 (1997-07-01) (Provisional)
  • 1 January 2000 (2000-01-01) (District Council)
Leadership
Chair
Simon Chan Sheung-man, Independent
Structure
Seats30 councillors
consisting of
6 elected members
12 district committee members
12 appointed members
13 / 30
3 / 30
3 / 30
2 / 30
1 / 30
1 / 30
7 / 30
Elections
First past the post
Last election
10 December 2023
Meeting place
11/F, Eastern Law Court Building, 29 Tai On Street, Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong
Website
www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/east/
Eastern District Council
Traditional Chinese東區區議會
Simplified Chinese东区区议会

The Eastern District Council is the district council for the Eastern District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Eastern District Council currently consists of 35 members, of which the district is divided into three constituencies, electing a total of 6 members, 12 district committee members, and 12 appointed members. The last election was held on 10 December 2023.

History[edit]

The Eastern District Council was established on 28 October 1981 under the name of the Eastern 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 Eastern District Board became Eastern 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 Eastern District Council was established on 1 January 2000 after the first 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 Eastern District Council was one of the largest District Councils in Hong Kong and the largest on Hong Kong Island, now the largest District Council replace status in the Kwun Tong District Council . Compared to the continuing shrinking in size of the Wan Chai District Council, the government in 2015 decided to transfer Tin Hau and Victoria Park constituencies from the Eastern to the Wan Chai District Council.[1]

Many older political organisations, especially the Reform Club of Hong Kong had a long presence in the Eastern District. In the 1985 election, an electoral coalition of 12 incumbents based on personal network surrounding Kwan Lim-ho of the Reform Club, contested in the election, winning 10 seats in total.[2] The traditional leftists through the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) also had considerable influence in their traditional stronghold of North Point and passed on its influence to the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) formed in 1992 and gradually expanded to the public estate areas in Shau Kei Wan and Chai Wan, while the influence of the pro-democrats, represented by the Democratic Party and the Civic Party today, was mostly limited to certain areas of private apartments such as Tai Koo Shing and Sai Wan Ho.

The pro-democrats achieved the majority of the council for the first time in the 2019 election in a historic landslide victory amid the pro-democracy protests, taking 32 of the 35 seats in the council, with many of the pro-Beijing strongholds in North Point fell into the hand of pro-democracy independents. The Civic Party emerged as the largest party with five seats which saw its veteran councillor Joseph Lai took the chairmanship.

Political control[edit]

Since 1982 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:

Camp in control Largest party Years Composition
No Overall Control Reform Club 1982 - 1985
Pro-government Reform Club 1985 - 1988



Pro-government HKAS 1988 - 1991



Pro-government United Democrats 1991 - 1994



Pro-Beijing DAB 1994 - 1997




Pro-Beijing DAB 1997 - 1999



Pro-Beijing DAB 2000 - 2003



Pro-Beijing DAB 2004 - 2007



Pro-Beijing DAB 2008 - 2011



Pro-Beijing DAB 2012 - 2015



Pro-Beijing DAB 2016 - 2019




Pro-democracy → NOC Civic → None 2020 - 2023




Pro-Beijing DAB 2024 - 2027




Political makeup[edit]

Elections are held every four years.

Political party Council members
1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
DAB 9 13 12 14 16 10 1 3
FTU 1 1 1 6 1 2
Liberal 3 2 1 2 2 2 1 1
Independent 8 8 14 14 16 12 17 14 12 10 18
Civic 2 3 4 5
Democratic 4 6 6 3 2 2 4
Labour 1 2
LSD 2 1
SKWEF 1
HTTHECG 1
NPP 1
HKPA 1 1
Citizens 1
HKDF 2 2 1
Frontier 1
United Democrats 3
Civic 1 3 2 2
LDF 2
PHKS 1 2
HKAS 1 2
Reform 1 5 1
Total elected members 10 18 22 24 34 37 37 37 37 35 35 6
Other members 13 12 15 12 0 9 9 9 6 0 0 24

Members represented[edit]

Capacity Code Constituency Name Political affiliation Term Notes
Elected C01 Tai Pak Eddie Ting Ko-ho DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Kenny Yuen Kin-chung Liberal 1 January 2024 Incumbent
C02 Hong Wan Annie Lee Ching-har DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Ng Ching-ching FTU 1 January 2024 Incumbent
C03 Chai Wan Elaine Chik Kit-ling DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Stanley Ho Ngai-kam FTU 1 January 2024 Incumbent
District Committees Wong Chi-chung DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lam Wing-shing DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Hung Chi-kit DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Kwok Wing-kin DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Joseph Chan Hoi-wing DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lau Suk-yin DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Dana Lau Shing-she NPP 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Tsang Cheuk-yi Liberal 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lam Wing-cheung Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lin Caiying Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Hung Chiu-kwan Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lai Nuen-san Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Appointed Lam Sum-lim DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Hung Lin-cham DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Cheng Chi-sing DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lau Hing-yeung DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Liang Li FTU 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Anthony Lu Xiaofeng NPP 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Calvin Kwok Ho-king NPP 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Kacee Ting Wong BPA 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Zareenah Ho Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Li Lee Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Benny Chau Chi-yan Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Chan Hang Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent

Leadership[edit]

Chairs[edit]

Between 1985 and 2023, the chairman is elected by all the members of the council.

Chairman Years Political Affiliation
Charles Gately 1981–1982 District Officer
Lui Hau-tuen 1982–1985 District Officer
Shum Choi-sang 1985–1994 Independent
Chan Bing-woon 1994–1999 Independent
Christina Ting Yuk-chee 2000–2011 Independent
Christopher Chung Shu-kun 2012 DAB
Wong Kin-pan 2012–2019 DAB
Joseph Lai Chi-keong 2020–2021 Civic
Leung Wing-sze 2021-2023 Independent
Simon Chan Sheung-man 2024–present District Officer

Vice Chairs[edit]

Vice Chairman Years Political Affiliation
Christopher Chung Shu-kun 2000–2003 DAB
Wong Kwok-hing 2004–2007 DAB
Christopher Chung Shu-kun 2008–2011 DAB
Wong Kin-pan 2012 DAB
Kung Pak-cheung 2012–2015 DAB
Chiu Chi-keung 2016–2019 FTU
Andrew Chiu Ka-yin 2020–2021 Democratic

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Public Consultation on Demarcation of District boundary between Eastern and Wan Chai Districts". Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau.
  2. ^ "百姓 - Issues 159-170". 百姓半月刊編輯委員會. 1988. p. 3.