The Wong Tai Sin District Council (; noted as WTS) is one of 18 such district councils in Hong Kong, representing the Wong Tai Sin District. The Wong Tai Sin District Council currently consists of 20 members, two members were each elected from one of 2 constituencies, 8 district committee members, and 8 appointed members. The latest election was held on 10 December 2023.
History The Wong Tai Sin District Council was established on 6 May 1981 under the name of the Wong Tai Sin 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 Wong Tai Sin District Board became Wong Tai Sin 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 Wong Tai Sin 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.
Due to the district's industrial character, the Wong Tai Sin District Council has been a stronghold for the pro-Beijing traditional leftists, returning one of its first directly elected Legislative Councillors Chan Yuen-han, who was member of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) and represented the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB). The pro-democrats also had their influence in the district, seeing Conrad Lam of the United Democrats of Hong Kong elected to the Legislative Council in 1985 and 1991.
The district also bred high-profile politicians such as Andrew To, the youngest member elected to the District Board 1991, member of the United Democrats and the Democratic Party, secretary-general of The Frontier and chairman of the League of Social Democrats (LSD) who held his seat until his defeat in the 2011 election with the LSD being wiped out in the district. Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai was also a long-time Wong Tai Sin District Councillor, representing King Fu from 1999 to 2019.
The pro-democrats scored a historic landslide victory in the 2019 election amid the massive pro-democracy protests by taking all the seats in the council. The pro-Beijing councillors were completely wiped out as a result, with Democratic Party becoming the largest party.
Political control Since 1982 political control of the council has been held by the following parties: Camp in control Largest party Years Composition No Overall Control Civic Association 1982–1985 Pro-government Civic Association 1985–1988 Pro-government Civic Association 1988–1991 Pro-government LDF 1991–1994 Pro-Beijing Democratic 1994–1997 Pro-Beijing Democratic 1997–1999 Pro-Beijing Democratic → 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 Democratic → ADPL 2020–2023 Pro-Beijing Independent 2024–2027
Political makeup Elections are held every four years. Political party Council members Currentmembers 1994 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Independent 2 10 12 8 9 8 10 Democratic 5 7 4 3 3 3 6 ADPL 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 TWSCP - - - - - 0 2 People Power - - - - - 0 1 CHESSA - - - - - - 1
District result maps
Members represented
Leadership Chairs Since 1985, the chairman is elected by all the members of the board: Chairman Years Political Affiliation I. R. Strachan 1981–1983 District Officer Chuk Kin-fan 1983–1985 District Officer Michael Cheng Tak-kin 1985–1988 Independent Michael Lee Yuk-kwan 1988–1991 Independent Chan Kam-man 1991–1999 LDF Lam Man-fai 2000–2003 DAB Wong Kam-chi 2004–2007 Independent Li Tak-hong 2008–2019 DAB Hui Kam-shing 2020–2021 ADPL Thomas Wu Kui-fah 2024–present District Officer
Vice Chairs Vice Chairman Years Political Affiliation Wong Kam-chi 2000–2003 Independent Kan Chi-ho 2004–2007 DAB Wong Kam-chi 2008–2011 Independent Wong Kam-chiu 2012–2015 Independent Joe Lai Wing-ho 2016–2019 DAB Wong Yat-yuk 2020–2021 Independent
Notes
References