Hong Kong local elections, 2003

Hong Kong local elections, 2003

23 November 2003
All Elected Constituencies 400 (of the 529) seats in all 18 Districts Councils
Turnout	44.10%
First party Second party Third party   150x150px Leader Yeung Sum Tsang Yok-sing Frederick Fung Party Democratic DAB ADPL Alliance Pro-democracy Pro-Beijing Pro-democracy Last election 87 seats, 24.85% 81 seats, 23.53% 19 seats, 4.70% Seats won 95 62 25 Seat change 20 30 5 Popular vote 223,675 241,202 53,264 Percentage 21.27% 22.94% 5.07% Swing 3.57pp 0.59pp 0.36pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   CF PA Leader Lau Kong-wah James Tien Ambrose Lau Party Civil Force Liberal Progressive Alliance Alliance Pro-Beijing Pro-Beijing Pro-Beijing Last election 11 seats, 2.42% 15 seats, 3.42% 16 seats, 2.65% Seats won 17 14 13 Seat change 6 3 2 Popular vote 25,720 29,108 29,091 Percentage 2.45% 2.77% 2.77% Swing 0.02pp 0.65pp 0.12pp
350px Map of the winning party by constituency

The 2003 Hong Kong District Council elections were held on 23 November 2003. Elections were held to all 18 districts of Hong Kong, for 400 members from directly elected constituencies out of total 534 council members, the second district councils election after the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. The pro-democrats received a great victory due to the controversy over the legislation of the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 and the large-scale July 1 Protests.

Overview

Before the elections were held, media had speculated the effect of the controversy over the legislation of the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 to the pro-Beijing camp. With the surge of popularity after the 2003 July 1 protests, the pro-democrats challenged the heavyweights of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), the flagship pro-government party in many constituencies, including the party vice-chairman Ip Kwok-him's Kwun Lung, Choy So-yuk's Kam Ping, Yeung Yiu-chung's Mei Foo and Lau Kong-wah's Kam To.

Lau Kong-wah stood in Kam To, challenging Democratic Party's Shirley Ho Suk-ping. As Lau was the Legislative Councillor for New Territories, pro-democrats saw Kam To as a crucial target. Icons like Audrey Eu, Alan Leong and Cheung Man-kwong took turns campaigning for Shirley Ho. Standing in the traditional Hokkien community Kam Ping, Choy so-yuk faced the challenged from Leung Kwok-hung of the April Fifth Action, while The Frontier's Cyd Ho stood in Kwun Lung against Ip Kwok-him. Ho was supported by Article 45 Concern Group's Ronny Tong and Ip was supported by the DAB chairman Tsang Yok-sing.

A historical record of 44 percent, in total of 10.6 millions voters cast their vote in the election. In result, Yeung Yiu-chung, Lau Kong-wah and Ip Kwok-him were all defeated by the pro-democrats while Choy So-yuk retained her seat with narrow margin. Only 62 of the 206 DAB candidates were elected. Tsang Yok-sing resigned his chairman post after the defeat and was later on succeeded by Ma Lik.

Results

General outcome

 Summary of the 23 November 2003 District Councils of Hong Kong election results

Political Affiliation			Popular vote	%	% +/−	Standing	Elected	+/−
		Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong	241,202	22.94	-0.59	200	62	-30
		Liberal Party	29,108	2.77	-0.65	27	14	-3
		Hong Kong Progressive Alliance	29,091	2.77	-0.05	23	13	-2
		Civil Force	25,720	2.45	+0.02	22	17	+6
		Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions	2,766	0.26	+0.13	3	0	-1
		New Youth Forum	1,314	0.12	-	2	0	-
		Wan Chai Community Union	1,189	0.11	-	1	1	-
		New Century Forum	833	0.08	-	1	0	-
		Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions	-	-	-	1	1	-
		Independent and others	156,374	14.87	-	133	88	-
Total for pro-Beijing camp			487,597	46.37	-	414	197	-
		Democratic Party	223,675	21.27	-3.57	120	95	+20
		Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood	53,264	5.07	+0.36	37	25	+5
		Frontier	25,349	2.41	+1.25	14	6	+2
		Neighbourhood and Workers Service Centre	14,146	1.35	+0.94	5	4	+2
		Yuen Long Tin Shui Wai Democratic Alliance	8,418	0.80	-	6	4	+2
		Central and Western Democratic Power	5,748	0.55	-	4	2	-
		Civic Act-up	5,170	0.49	-	5	3	-
		Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions	4,032	0.38	-	3	2	-
		7.1 People Pile	2,888	0.27	-	3	0	-
		Yuen Long Democratic Alliance	1,489	0.14	-	1	1	-
		April Fifth Action	1,149	0.11	-	1	0	-
		Citizens Party	361	0.03	-0.22	1	0	-1
		Independent democrats	123,763	11.68	-	83	52	-
Total for pro-democracy camp			468,451	44.55	-	282	193	-
Independent and others			95,376	9.07	-	141	10	-
Total (turnout 44.10%)			1,051,424	100.0	-	837	400	+5

Results by district

Council	Previous control	Previous party		Camp control	Largest party		DAB	DP	CF	ADPL	Lib	PA	TF/CA	Others
Central and Western	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	1	6			2		2	4
Wan Chai	Pro-Beijing		DAB	No Overall Control		Civic Act-up	1	2					3	5
Eastern	Pro-Beijing		DAB	Pro-Beijing		DAB	12	6			1	1		17
Southern	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	1	2			2			12
Yau Tsim Mong	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	2	4		3				7
Sham Shui Po	Pro-democracy		ADPL	Pro-democracy		ADPL	1	2		13				5
Kowloon City	Pro-Beijing		Progressive Alliance	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	2	7		3	3	1		6
Wong Tai Sin	Pro-Beijing		DAB	Pro-Beijing		DAB	5	4		2	1		2	11
Kwun Tong	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	4	9			1			20
Tsuen Wan	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	1	5			1	1		9
Tuen Mun	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	Pro-Beijing		DAB	9	9		4		1		6
Yuen Long	Pro-Beijing		DAB	Pro-Beijing		DAB	4	2			1	1		21
North	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	5	8						3
Tai Po	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	Pro-Beijing		Democratic	3	7				2	1	6
Sai Kung	Pro-Beijing		DAB	Pro-Beijing		DAB	4	4	3			4		5
Sha Tin	Pro-Beijing		Civil Force	Pro-Beijing		Civil Force	2	7	14		1	1	2	9
Kwai Tsing	Pro-democracy		Democratic	Pro-democracy		Democratic	1	11			1	1		14
Islands	Pro-Beijing		DAB	Pro-Beijing		DAB	4							4

Vote summary

Votes, of total, by camp

  Pro-Beijing (46.37%)

  Pro-democrats (44.55%)

  Other (9.08%)

Seats, of total, by camp

  Pro-Beijing (49.25%)

  Pro-democrats (48.25%)

  Other (2.5%)

Popular vote
DAB			22.94%
Democratic			21.27%
ADPL			5.07%
Liberal			2.77%
PA			2.77%
Civil Force			2.45%
Frontier			2.41%
NWSC			1.35%
Others			40.31%

Seat summary

Seats
Democratic			23.75%
DAB			15.50%
ADPL			6.25%
Civil Force			4.25%
Liberal			3.50%
PA			3.25%
Frontier			1.75%
NWSC			1.00%
Others			40.75%

Aftermath

In December 2003 after the elections, Tung appointed 21 political party appointees to the District Councils to dilute the influence of the pro-democrats as follows:

• 8 members of the Liberal Party
• 6 members of the DAB
• 6 members from the Progressive Alliance
• 1 from the New Century Forum

Professor of politics and sociology at Lingnan University, Dr. Li Pang-kwong said "As in the past, most of the appointees were pro-government or persons without a clear political stance... ensur[ing] that no district council is in the hands of the democrats."

A spokesman for the democrats said the appointees "will have an unfair advantage in that they are getting financial support from the government which will help them run for office in future elections."