Hong Kong legislative election, 2008

Hong Kong legislative election, 2008

2004 ← members 7 September 2008 members elected → 2012

Geographical Constituencies 30 (of the 60) seats in the Legislative Council   First party Second party Third party   Leader Tam Yiu-chung Albert Ho James Tien Party DAB Democratic Party Liberal Party Alliance Pro-Beijing Pro-democracy Pro-Beijing Leader's seat New Territories West New Territories West New Territories East (lost seat) Last election 10 seats, 22.55% 9 seats, 23.74% 10 seats, 6.67% Seats before 9 9 10 Seat change 1 1 3 Popular vote 347,373 312,692 65,622 Percentage 22.79% 20.63% 4.33% Swing 0.24% 3.11% 2.34% Geographical constituency seats won 7 7 0 Total seats won 10 8 7   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Audrey Eu Cheng Yiu Tong Raymond Wong Party Civic Party HKFTU LSD Alliance Pro-democracy Pro-Beijing Pro-democracy Leader's seat Hong Kong Island N/A Kowloon West Last election 4 seats, 9.62% 3 seats, 2.95% new Seats before 6 3 2 Seat change 1 1 1 Popular vote 206,980 86,311 153,390 Percentage 13.66% 5.66% 10.1% Swing 4.04% 2.71% N/A Geographical constituency seats won 4 2 3 Total seats won 5 4 3

President before election Rita Fan Independent Elected President Jasper Tsang DAB

The 2008 Hong Kong legislative election (Chinese: 香港特別行政區第四屆立法會選舉) was held on 7 September 2008 for the 4th Legislative Council since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. There are 60 seats in the 4th Council, with 30 Members elected by geographical constituencies through direct elections, and 30 Members by functional constituencies. Candidates for 14 functional constituency seats were unopposed.

Pre-election issues

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress vote in December 2007 to allow universal suffrage by 2017, and full Legislative Council elections by 2020, tempered the debate on universal suffrage. Wary of political parties, the government sought to defer discussion on other highly sensitive issues until October 2008, in the hopes that the election will be void of focus. The election was therefore fought over issues regarding the minimum wage, health care reform, old age allowances, and the future of RTHK. Also, the case surrounding former Housing Director Leung Chin-man served to highlight the issue of systematic checks and balances, and the lack of political scrutiny of government actions.

Commentators, such as Albert Cheng noted that the fighting between pro-democracy parties was heating up, but forecast few changes in the overall party standings of the new Council. He cited proportional representation as a mechanism which built in protection for a multi-party system.

There were some concerns that those seeking the right of abode in Hong Kong felt pressured by lobbyists supporting the DAB. Two advocacy groups echoed abode-seekers' in being bombarded with telephone calls and other pressures to vote for the DAB, or for Regina Ip.

Deputy Ministers appointment controversy

Further information: Political Appointments System

Inflation relief measures

Further information: Foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong#Waiver controversy

Leung Chin-man appointment controversy

Further information: Leung Chin-man appointment controversy

Candidates

A total of 142 candidates on 53 lists entered the election via the geographical constituencies, making it the most contested election since the handover of Hong Kong. The candidates of both the pan-democracy and pro-Beijing coalitions stated that they would not allocate the votes within each camp, leading to infighting inside the caucuses. Martin Lee and Anson Chan announced that they would not stand, and would endorse other candidates. In addition, some incumbent legislators such as Audrey Eu of the Civic Party and Yeung Sum of the Democratic Party were placed second on their lists in an attempt to get less experienced members of their parties elected.

Beijing's involvement in the elections was an open secret: its strategy was to elect a new batch of "independent" aspirants with profession backgrounds and without a strong pro-Beijing image, such as Scarlet Pong, and eventual winners Regina Ip and Priscilla Leung. It had hoped they would appeal to the middle class voters and steal votes from the pan-democratic parties.

The functional constituencies were less competitive: 14 out of the 30 seats were uncontested. The Accounting and Architectural, Surveying and Planning functional constituencies were the most contested, with 5 candidates competing in each constituency. 45 candidates in total ran for the 16 contested seats.

General outcome

A record number of 3.37 million people registered to vote in the election. The turnout rate was low, at 45% with 1.51 million voters casting ballots.

Commentator Chris Yeung believed that the Liaison Office operated behind the scenes to coordinate votes for the pro-Beijing camp. These independents managed to secure seats, but apparently not at the expense of support for the pan-democrats.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong remained the largest single party in Council, with 13 seats. The share of the pan-democratic parties' vote among voters dropped from 60% in 2004 to 57%, which translated into a net loss of 2 seats. The pan-democrats were elected to a total of 23 seats, 19 seats in the directly elected geographical constituencies, and four seats from the functional constituencies. By virtue of having in excess of ⅓ of the seats in LegCo, their ability to veto constitutional changes remained intact. The pan-democrats' veto power were crucial for the electoral arrangements for the 2012 elections, which will take place during this Council.

In the backdrop of a deteriorating economy and rising inflation, voters shifted their preferences towards more radical and grass-roots politicians; the electorate's suspicions of collusion between government and big business dealt a blow to the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party suffered double defeat when Selina Chow and Chairman James Tien lost their seats in the New Territories West and New Territories East geographical constituencies respectively. Their bid to secure seats in other constituencies also failed. Tien resigned as the Liberal Party's chairman after his defeat, and Chow resigned both her vice-chairmanship and her seat on the Executive Council of Hong Kong. The election of three members of the League of Social Democrats and four trade-unionists to Legco is set to pose a challenge to the government on welfare and livelihood issues.

 Summary of the 7 September 2008 Legislative Council of Hong Kong election results

Parties and allegiances			Geographical constituencies				Functional constituencies Seats gained	Total seats gained	+/−
			Popular vote	%	+/−	Seats gained
Pan-Democrats		Democratic Party	312,692	20.63	−3.11	7	1	8	−1
		Civic Party	206,980	13.66	+4.41	4	1	5	−1
		League of Social Democrats	153,390	10.1	New party	3	0	3	+1
		Neighbourhood and Workers Service Centre	42,441	2.8	+0.51	1	0	1	±0
		Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions	42,366	2.8	−2.2	1	0	1	±0
		Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood	42,211	2.79	−1.39	1	0	1	±0
		The Frontier	33,205	2.19	−1.95	1	0	1	±0
		Civic Act-up	30,887	2.04	−2.11	1	0	1	+1
	Pro-democracy individuals and others		5,293	0.35	−	0	2	2	−
Total for pan-democrats			869,465	57.37	+1.3	19 (63.33%)	4 (13.33%)	23 (38.33%)	−2
Pro-Government		Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong	347,373	22.79	+0.24	7	3	10	+1
		Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions	86,311	5.66	+2.69	2	2	4	+1
		Liberal Party	65,622	4.33	−2.34	0	7	7	−3
	Pro-Beijing individuals and others		105,445	6.96	−	2	14	16	−
Total for pro-Beijing camp			624,665	41.22	+4.33	11 (36.67%)	26 (86.67%)	37 (61.67%)	+2
Independent	Councillors without formal affiliation with any political party		41,263	2.72	−	0	0	0	±0
Total (turnout 45.20%)			1,515,479	100.0	±0	30	30	60	±0
Source: Hong Kong government
Note: Candidates in 14 functional constituencies were elected uncontested to the Legislative Council. The number of seats for the Federation of Trade Unions in the geographical constituencies exclude Wong Kwok-hing, Wong Kwok-kin and Pan Pey Chyou, who are also DAB members; figures in parentheses in the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing total percentage exclude all votes of other individuals.

Votes summary

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Popular vote
DAB			22.79%
Democratic Party			20.36%
Civic Party			13.66%
LSD			10.1%
HKFTU			5.66%
Liberal Party			4.33%
NWSC			2.8%
HKCTU			2.8%
HKADPL			2.79%
The Frontier			2.19%
Civic Act-up			2.19%
Others			10.03%

Candidates lists and results

Geographical constituencies (30 seats)

Voting System: Closed party-list proportional representation with the largest remainder method and Hare Quota.

Results of Hong Kong legislative election, 2008
Hong Kong Island (香港島)
List №	Party/Allegiance		Candidate(s)	Votes	Votes %		Seat(s) won
1		Liberal Party	Lam Chui-lin Wong Kam-chuen Ngan Choi-chik	2,166	0.7
2		Civic Act-up	Cyd Ho Sau-lan	30,887	9.9		1
3		Democratic Party	Kam Nai-wai Yeung Sum Tsui Yuen-wa	39,808	12.7		1
4		LSD	Tsang Kin-shing	10,202	3.3
5		DAB	Jasper Tsang Yok-sing Choy So-yuk Christopher Chung Shu-kun Cheung Kwok-kwan Chan Hok-fung Kwok Wai-keun	60,417	19.3		1
6		Independent	Myra Sophia Siu Man-wa	1,798	0.6
7		Independent	Lo Wing-lok	20,523	6.5
8		Civic Party	Tanya Chan Suk-chong Audrey Eu Yuet-mee Amy Yung Wing-sheung	82,600	26.4		2
9		Independent	Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee Louis Shih Tai-cho Wong Kin-hing Ronald Chan Ngok-pang	61,073	19.5		1
10		Independent	Joseph Lai Chi-keong	3,955	1.3
TOTAL (Quota: 52,238 votes, 16.67%)				313,429	100.0		6
Kowloon West (九龍西)
List №	Party/Allegiance		Candidate(s)	Votes	Votes %		Seat(s) won
1		Independent	Francis Chong Wing-charn	1,076	0.5
2		DAB	Starry Lee Wai-king Chung Kong-mo Chan Wai-ming Vincent Cheng Wing-shun	39,013	18.9		1
3		SDA	James Lung Wai-man Bantawa Sukra	591	0.3
4		Democratic Party	James To Kun-sun Lam Ho-yeung	29,690	14.4		1
5		Civic Party	Claudia Mo Man-ching Ng Yuet-lan Tang Chi-ying	17,259	8.4
6		Independent	Lam Yi-lai	590	0.3
7		Independent	Priscilla Leung Mei-fun Edward Leung Wai-kuen Aaron Lam Ka-fai	19,914	9.6		1
8		LSD	Raymond Wong Yuk-man Lee Wai-yee	37,553	18.2		1
9		Independent	Michael Tien Puk-sun Ho Hin-ming	13,011	6.3
10		HKADPL	Frederick Fung Kin-kee Rosanda Mok Ka-han Tsung Po-shan Wong Chi Yung Yeung Chun-yu	35,440	17.2		1
11		Independent	Lau Chin-shek	10,553	5.1
12		Independent	Lau Yuk-shing Nandeed Cheung Kit-fung David Tsui	290	0.1
13		Independent	Tam Hoi-pong	1,603	0.8
TOTAL(Quota: 41,317 votes, 20.00%)				206,583	100.0		5
Kowloon East (九龍東)
List №	Party/Allegiance		Candidate(s)	Votes	Votes %		Seat(s) won
1		Democratic Party	Wu Chi-wai	16,365	6.9
2		LSD	Andrew To Kwan-hang	28,690	12.1
3		DAB	Chan Kam-lam Joe Lai Wing-ho Maggie Chan Man-ki Hung Kam-in	53,472	22.6		1
4		Civic Party	Alan Leong Kah-kit Yu Kwun-wai Wong Hok-ming	39,274	16.6		1
5		Democratic Party	Fred Li Wah-ming Kai Ming-wah Wong Kai-ming Wong Wai-tag	48,124	20.4		1
6		HKFTU	Wong Kwok-kin Chan Yuen-han Peter Wong Kit-hin Kan Ming-tung	50,320	21.3		1
TOTAL (Quota: 59,061 votes, 25.00%）				236,245	100.0		4
New Territories West (新界西)
List №	Party/Allegiance		Candidate(s)	Votes	Votes %		Seat(s) won
1		Civic Party	Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung Sumly Chan Yuen-sum Wong Ka-wa	27,910	7.0
2		HKCTU	Lee Cheuk-yan Tam Chun-yin	42,366	10.6		1
3		DAB	Tam Yiu-chung Cheung Hok-ming Leung Che-cheung Chan Han-pan Lung Shui-hing Leung Kar-ming Andy Lo Kwong-shing Lui Kin	92,037	23.1		2
4		Democratic Party	Albert Ho Chun-yan Hui Chi-fung Lo Man-hon	36,764	9.2		1
5		HKADPL	Tandon Lal Chaing Yeung Chi-hang	6,771	1.7
6		Independent	Yuen Wai-chung	1,338	0.3
7		LSD	Albert Chan Wai-yip	32,182	8.1		1
8		Independent	Chow Ping-tim	1,720	0.4
9		HKFTU	Wong Kwok-hing Alice Mak Mei-kuen Marina Tsang Tze-kwan Tsui Fan Dennis Leung Tsz-wing Tang Ka-piu Yiu Kwok-wai Manwell Chan	35,991	9.0		1
		DAB
10		Democratic Party	Cheung Yin-tung Kwong Chun-yu	10,069	2.5
11		Independent	Leung Suet-fong Thapa Komal	1,366	0.3
12		Liberal Party	Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee Chow Wing-kan	21,570	5.4
13		Neighbourhood and Workers Service Centre	Leung Yiu-chung Wong Yun-tat	42,441	10.7		1
14		Democratic Party	Lee Wing-tat Wong Suet-ying Lam Siu-fai Cheung Wai-mei Lam Lap-chi	45,767	11.5		1
TOTAL (Quota: 49,787 votes, 12.50%）				398,292	100.0		8
New Territories East (新界東)
List №	Party/Allegiance		Candidate(s)	Votes	Votes %		Seat(s) won
1		Liberal Party	James Tien Pei-chun Terry Kan Wing-fai Christine Fong Kwok-shan	28,875	8.0
2		Party for Civil Rights and Livelihood	Siu See-kong David Yung Chiu-wing	1,129	0.3
3		The Frontier	Emily Lau Wai-hing Ricky Or Yiu-lam	33,205	9.2		1
4		Democratic Party	Nelson Wong Sing-chi Mok Siu-lun	44,174	12.2		1
5		LSD	Leung Kwok-hung	44,763	12.4		1
6		Independent	Alvin Lee Chi-wing	4,007	1.1
7		Democratic Party	Andrew Cheng Kar-Foo Yam Kai-bong Shirley Ho Suk-ping Leung Li Kwan Wing-yip Michael Yung Ming-chau Frankie Lam Siu-chung	41,931	11.6		1
8		Civic Party	Ronny Tong Ka-wah Tsang Kwok-fung Tsang Kin-chiu	39,957	11.1		1
9		Independent	Scarlett Pong Oi-lan	20,455	5.7
10		DAB	Lau Kong-wah Gary Chan Hak-kan Mok Kam-kwai Wong Pik-kiu Chan Kwok-kai Lau Kwok-fan Calvin Lin Chor-keung	102,434	28.4		2
TOTAL (Quota: 51,561 votes, 14.29%）				360,930	100.0		7

See also

• Legislative Council of Hong Kong
• Hong Kong legislative elections

External links

• Legislative Council of Hong Kong
• Electoral Affairs Commission