North District Council

(Redirected from North District Board)

The North District Council (Chinese: 北區區議會) is one of the 18 Hong Kong district councils and represents the North District. It is one of 18 such councils. Consisting of 24 members, the district council is drawn from two constituencies, which elect 4 members, along with 8 district committee members, 8 appointed members, and four ex officio members who are the Ta Kwu Ling, Sheung Shui, Sha Tau Kok and Fanling rural committee chairmen. The latest election was held on 10 December 2023.

North District Council

北區區議會
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1981 (1981-04-01) (District Board)
1 July 1997 (1997-07-01) (Provisional)
1 January 2000 (2000-01-01) (District Council)
Leadership
Chair
Derek Lai Chi-kin, Independent
Vice-Chair
Vacant
Structure
Seats24 councillors
consisting of
4 elected members
8 district committee members
8 appointed members
4 ex officio members
11 / 24
1 / 24
1 / 24
1 / 24
10 / 24
Elections
First past the post
Last election
10 December 2023
Meeting place
3/F, North District Government Offices, 3 Pik Fung Road, Fanling, New Territories
Website
www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/north/

History

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The North District Council was established on 1 April 1981 under the name of the North 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 Regional Council members and chairmen of four Rural Committees, Ta Kwu Ling, Sheung Shui, Sha Tau Kok and Fanling, as well as members appointed by the Governor until 1994 when last Governor Chris Patten refrained from appointing any member.

The North District Board became North 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 current North District Council was established on 1 January 2000 after the first District Council election in 1999. The appointed seats were abolished in 2015 after the modified constitutional reform proposal was passed by the Legislative Council in 2010.

The North District Council is dominated by the rural forces and the pro-Beijing camp. The rural forces had been in control of the chairmanship until in 2008, when long-time councillor So Sai-chi of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) became the council chairman. The DAB achieved majority of the seats in the 2011 District Council election, taking 14 of the 17 elected seats of the council. The DAB majority ended when the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) councillors departed from the DAB in 2012.

The pro-democrats had established its presence in the late 1980s with Tik Chi-yuen and Wong Sing-chi of Meeting Point elected in the 1988 and 1991 election. Both of them became the Legislative Councillor for the Democratic Party. The pro-democrats achieved the majority of the elected seats in the 2003 tide of democracy following the 2003 July 1 march, but suffered setbacks in the 2007 and 2011 elections. In the 2011 election, the pro-democrats won only one seat, occupied by Democratic Party's Law Sai-yan in Luen Wo Hui. The pro-democrats regained a number of seats in 2015, with Democratic Party chief executive Lam Cheuk-ting won in Shek Wu Hui and was elected to the Legislative Council in the next year.

In the 2019 election, the pro-democrats took control of the council by taking 15 seats in a historic landslide victory amid the massive pro-democracy protests. The pro-Beijing parties almost lost all their seats, retaining only three seats with DAB's Lau Kwok-fan, the legislator for the District Council (First) functional constituency also being unseated. As a result, the newly elected Law Ting-tak became the first localist being elected as council chairman for the first time.

In the 2023 District Council election, 4 of the 24 seats in the North District Council will be elected by elected members, 8 seats will be elected by the district committees, 8 appointed members, and 4 ex-officio members will make up the current North District District Council. In the Parliament, among the 24 seats, there are 10 independent members, 11 seats from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, 1 seat from the Federation of Trade Unions, 1 seat from the Economic and Democratic Alliance, and 1 seat from the Public Housing Federation. Among the 24 seats, 24 are from the pro-establishment camp.

Political control

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

Camp in control Largest party Years Composition
No Overall Control None 1982 - 1985
Pro-government None 1985 - 1988




Pro-government Meeting Point 1988 - 1991




Pro-government Meeting Point 1991 - 1994




Pro-Beijing DAB 1994 - 1997




Pro-Beijing DAB 1997 - 1999




Pro-Beijing Democratic 2000 - 2003




Pro-Beijing Democratic 2004 - 2007




Pro-Beijing DAB 2008 - 2011




Pro-Beijing DAB (majority) 2012 - 2015




Pro-Beijing DAB 2016 - 2019




Pro-democracy → Pro-Beijing Democratic 2020 - 2023




Pro-Beijing DAB 2024 - 2027




Political makeup

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Elections are held every four years.

    Political party Council members Current
members
1994 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
  Independent 5 2 3 3 2 3 8
13 / 22
  Democratic 2 7 8 4 1 3 5
4 / 22
  DAB 4 6 5 9 14 8 1
1 / 22
  FTU - - - - - 3 1
1 / 22

District result maps

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Members represented

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Capacity Code Constituency Name Term Political affiliation Notes
Elected N01 Wu Tip Shan Yiu Ming 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Sung Ping-ping 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
N02 Robin's Nest Ko Wai-kei 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Ken Tsang King-chung 1 January 2024 Incumbent FTU
District Committees Lau Chun-hoi 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Sherwood Ng Yiu-cho 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Ray Hau Hon-shek 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Wu King-pang 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Phillip Tsang Hing-lung 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Pun Hau-man 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Windy Or Sin-yi 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Warwick Wan Wo-tat 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Appointed Chu Ho-yin 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Wan Wo-fai 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Lai Sum 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Zinnie Chow Tin-yi 1 January 2024 Incumbent BPA
Chu Wai-lam 1 January 2024 Incumbent FEW
Tommy Hung Chi-fu 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Henry Liu Yu-hin 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Tam Chun-kwok 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Ex officio Ta Kwu Ling Rural Committee Chairman Chan Yuet-ming 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Sheung Shui Rural Committee Chairman Hau Chi-keung 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Sha Tau Kok Rural Committee Chairman Lee Koon-hung 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Fanling Rural Committee Chairman Li Kwok-fung 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent

Leadership

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Chairs

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Since 1985, the chairman is elected by all the members of the board:

Chairman Years Political Affiliation
P.E. Johnson 1981–1982 District Officer
S. Harbinson 1982–1984 District Officer
I. Wotherspoon 1984–1985 District Officer
Raymond Pang Hang-yin 1985–1994 Heung Yee KukLDF
Tang Kwok-yung 1994–1999 Heung Yee Kuk
Raymond Pang Hang-yin 1999–2003 Heung Yee Kuk
Li Kwok-fung 2004–2006 Heung Yee Kuk
Lau Tin-sang 2006–2007 Heung Yee Kuk
So Sai-chi 2008–2019 DAB
Law Ting-tak 2020–2023 Independent
Derek Lai Chi-kin 2024–present District Officer

Vice Chairs

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Vice Chairman Years Political Affiliation
Cheung Fo-tai 2000–2003 Heung Yee Kuk
Chow Kam-siu 2004–2007 Democratic
Hau Chi-keung 2008–2011 Liberal/Heung Yee Kuk
Hau Kam-lam 2012–2015 DAB/Heung Yee Kuk
Li Kwok-fung 2016–2019 Heung Yee Kuk
Chan Yuk-ming 2020–2021 Democratic
Li Kwok-fung 2021–2023 Heung Yee Kuk

Notes

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References

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22°29′41″N 114°08′19″E / 22.4946°N 114.1386°E / 22.4946; 114.1386