1991 Hong Kong municipal elections

The 1991 Hong Kong Urban Council and Regional Council elections were the municipal elections held on 5 May 1991 for the elected seats of the Urban Council and Regional Council respectively. The election saw the direct rivalry between the newly established political parties, the liberal United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) and the conservative Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong (LDFHK) which the liberal forces won a landslide victory.

1991 Hong Kong municipal elections

5 May 1991
15 (of the 40) seats to the Urban Council 12 (of the 26) seats to the Regional Council
Registered	1,822,443 13.62%
Turnout	393,764 (23.14%) 5.54pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Martin Lee Hu Fa-kuang Hilton Cheong-Leen Party United Democrats LDF Civic Last election New party New party 4 seats, 7.18% Seats before 5 2 3 Seats won 5 UC 6 RC 2 UC 1 RC 2 UC — Seat change 6 1 2 Popular vote 146,229 39,139 22,048 Percentage 37.33% 9.99% 5.63% Swing N/A N/A 1.55pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Frederick Fung Brook Bernacchi Anthony Cheung Party ADPL Reform Meeting Point Last election 4 seats, 9.99% 2 seats, 6.31% 2 seats, 10.21% Seats before 2 2 0 Seats won 2 UC — 2 UC — 1 UC — Seat change 1 Popular vote 21,033 9,045 12,476 Percentage 5.37% 2.31% 3.18% Swing 4.62pp 4.00pp 7.03pp
Chairmen before election Hugh Forsgate (UC) Cheung Yan-lung (RC) Elected Chairmen Ronald Leung (UC) Lam Wai-keung (RC)

Overview

For the Urban Council, 15 seats were the directly elected by the general residents and ten seats were elected by the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon District Boards members and 15 appointed by the Governor. For the Regional Council, 12 seats were directly elected and nine seats were elected by the New Territories District Boards members, with 12 appointed members and three ex officio members of the chairman and two vice-chairmen of the Heung Yee Kuk. The first-past-the-post voting system was in use.

The elections were one of the three elections in the year, which came after the March District Board elections and before the September Legislative Council election in which direct elections would be introduced for the first time. Major political forces realigned themselves on the eve of the elections. The liberal pro-democracy activists and professionals came together as the United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) in preparation for the elections in April 1990, while the conservative pro-business forces founded the Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong (LDFHK) in November 1990 to counter the pro-democracy forces. The United Democrats became the biggest winner in the District Board elections, sweeping 52 seats, as compared to LDF's 24 seats. It was seen as the rehearsals of those parties for the more important Legislative Council election in September.

A total number of 59 candidates contested for 25 seats, excluding the two uncontested seats in each councils. 392,496 electorates cast their votes, which counted more than 23.3 per cent of the total registered voters, about six per cent higher than the elections in 1989. Four of the contesting incumbents were defeated including Peter Chan Chi-kwan who had served for 22 years. The two-term incumbent Wong Shui-sang was also defeated by Gilbert Leung Kam-ho.

The two newly established political parties, the liberal pro-democracy United Democrats, and its allies, and the conservative pro-business Liberal Democratic Federation, with the support of the older grassroots organisation Hong Kong Civic Association, contested heavily in the districts like North Point, Southern District, Kowloon City East, Wong Tai Sin South, Tuen Mun West and Tai Po. The United Democrats won 11 seats as result, more than one-third in each council, including Sha Tin where Lau Kong-wah and Wong Hon-chung both won a seat in preparation for contesting the Legislative Council direct election in September, while the LDF won only three seats.

Results

Overall Summary of the 5 May 1991 Urban Council and Regional Council of Hong Kong election results

Political Affiliation		Urban Council			Regional Council			Total
		Popular votes	Standing	Elected	Popular votes	Standing	Elected	Popular votes	%	Total seats gained
	United Democrats of Hong Kong	66,928	8	5	79,301	7	6	146,229	37.33	11
	Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong	27,730	4	2	11,409	3	1	39,139	9.99	3
	Hong Kong Civic Association	22,048	5	2	-	-	-	22,048	5.63	2
	Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood	21,033	2	2	-	-	-	21,033	5.37	2
	Reform Club of Hong Kong	9,045	2	2	-	-	-	9,045	2.31	2
	Meeting Point	12,476	1	1	-	-	-	12,476	3.18	1
	Individuals and others	82,446	18	1	86,442	14	5	168,888	43.11	6
Total		214,597	37	15	177,152	24	12	391,749	100.00	27

Note: Some of the candidates with multiple affiliations are overlapped in this chart.

Result breakdown

Urban Council

District	Constituency	Candidates	Affiliation		Votes	%
Central & Western	Central & Western	1 Wong Sui-lai		United Democrats	9,327	55.62
		2 Chan Tak-chor		Independent	7,442	44.38
Wan Chai	Wan Chai	1 San Stephen Wong Hon-ching		Independent	4,714	51.38
		2 Susanna Yeung Wan-king		United Democrats	4,460	48.62
Eastern	North Point	1 Man Sai-cheong		United Democrats	12,177	69.56
		2 Wong Tak-lun		LDF/Civic	4,040	23.08
		3 Au Yuk-lun		Independent	1,289	7.36
	Shau Kei Wan	1 Brook Bernacchi		Reform	9,045	52.92
		2 Joseph Lai Chi-keong		United Democrats	4,178	24.45
		3 Chiu Kin-man		Independent	3,868	22.63
Southern	Southern	1 Yeung Chui-chun		Independent	4,743	18.95
		2 Joseph Chan Yuek-sut		LDF/Civic	10,593	42.32
		3 Ho Chun-yan		United Democrats	9,693	38.73
Kowloon City	Kowloon City West	1 Chiang Sai-cheong		United Democrats	6,686	53.26
		2 Peter Chan Chi-kwan		Civic	5,868	46.74
	Kowloon City East	1 Pao Ping-wing		LDF	6,372	52.84
		2 Wong Ho-kei		Independent	546	4.92
		3 Tsang Kin-shing		ASPDMC	4,187	37.70
Kwun Tong	Kwun Tong West	1 Elsie Tu		Independent	14,556	54.63
		2 Lee Chun-ming		Independent	765	2.87
		3 Chan Kam-lam		Independent	11,325	42.50
	Kwun Tong East	1 Li Wah-ming		Meeting Point/UD	12,476	60.74
		2 Wong Ping-kuen		Independent	8,064	39.26
Mong Kok	Mong Kok	1 Chan Kwok-ming		Independent	4,475	51.32
		2 Law Wing-cheung		Independent	3,339	38.30
		3 Kung Po-chuk		Civic	905	10.38
Sham Shui Po	Sham Shui Po East	1 Frederick Fung Kin-kee		ADPL	9,944	88.41
		2 Lee Yau-wai		Independent	1,304	11.59
	Sham Shui Po West	1 Ma Lee-wo		United Democrats	7,931	56.68
		2 Wong Kuen-wai		Independent	6,062	43.32
Wong Tai Sin	Wong Tai Sin South	1 Mok Ying-fan		ADPL	11,089	62.25
		2 Wong Kam-chi		LDF	6,725	37.75
	Wong Tai Sin North	1 Cecilia Yeung Lai-yin		Reform	uncontested
Yau Tsim	Yau Tsim	1 Daniel Wong Kwok-tung		Independent	3,028	47.25
		2 Tong Chor-yin		Independent	2,568	40.07
		3 Yu Hon-piu		Independent	171	2.67
		4 Wu Yan-yu		Civic	642	10.02

Regional Council

District	Constituency	Candidate	Affiliation		Votes	%
Islands	Islands	1 Kwong Kwok-kam		Independent	2,822	41.84
		2 Fung Puk-tai		Independent	3,922	58.16
North	North	1 Cheung Hon-chung		LDF	uncontested
Sai Kung	Sai Kung	1 Wong Shui-sang		Independent	3,604	47.89
		2 Glibert Leung Kam-ho		Independent (FSHK)	3,922	52.11
Sha Tin	Sha Tin East	1 Lee York-fai		Independent	462	1.98
		2 Wong Hon-chung		United Democrats	11,475	49.21
		3 Tony Kan Chung-nin		Independent	11,381	48.81
	Sha Tin West	1 Lau Kong-wah		United Democrats	16,755	77.40
		2 Wai Hing-cheung		Independent	4,893	22.60
Tai Po	Tai Po	1 Cheng Chun-ping		LDF	7,673	43.26
		2 Fung Chi-wood		United Democrats	10,064	56.74
Tsuen Wan	Tsuen Wan	1 Albert Chan Wai-yip		United Democrats	13,232	63.89
		2 Ip Yeung Fuk-lan		Independent	7,478	36.11
Tuen Mun	Tuen Mun East	1 Alfred Tso Shiu-wai		Independent (FSHK)	7,975	67.70
		2 Ng Wai-cho		United Democrats	3,805	32.30
	Tuen Mun West	1 Ng Ming-yum		United Democrats	14,010	78.95
		2 Philip Li Koi-hop		LDF	3,736	21.05
Yuen Long	Yuen Long	1 Ngan Kam-chuen		Independent	10,003	66.89
		2 Chan Yat-tung		Independent	4,952	33.11
Kwai Tsing	Kwai Chung East	1 Chow Yick-hay		United Democrats	9,960	77.87
		Lee Wing-kin		Independent	2,830	22.13
	Kwai Chung West & Tsing Yi	1 Ting Yin-wah		Independent (TYCG)	13,154	69.45
		2 Sarena Young Fuk-ki		Independent	5,787	30.55