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Tai Po District Council

Coordinates: 22°26′46″N 114°10′00″E / 22.4461°N 114.1666°E / 22.4461; 114.1666
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Tai Po District Council

大埔區議會
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
Eunice Chan Hau-man, Independent
Vice-Chair
Vacant
Structure
Seats22 councillors
consisting of
4 elected members
8 district committee members
8 appointed members
2 ex officio members
6 / 22
3 / 22
1 / 22
1 / 22
11 / 22
Elections
First past the post
Last election
10 December 2023
Meeting place
4/F, Tai Po Complex, 8 Heung Sze Wui Street, Tai Po, New Territories
Website
www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/tp/

The Tai Po District Council (Chinese: 大埔區議會) is the district council for the Tai Po District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Tai Po District Council currently consists of 22 members, of which the district is divided into two constituencies, electing a total of 4 members, 8 district committee members, 8 appointed members, and 2 ex officio members who are the Tai Po and Sai Kung North rural committee chairmen. The latest election was held on 10 December 2023.

History

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Emblem of Tai Po District Board (1982–1997)

The Tai Po District Council was established on 1 April 1981 under the name of the Tai Po 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 two Rural Committees, Tai Po and Sai Kung North, as well as members appointed by the Governor until 1994 when last Governor Chris Patten refrained from appointing any member.

The Tai Po District Board became Tai Po 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 Tai Po 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 Tai Po District Board was a stronghold of the conservative Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong (LDF) and its successor Hong Kong Progressive Alliance (HKPA) in the 1990s and early 2000s. The pro-business Liberal Party also established its presence in the district in the 1990s surrounding its chairman Allen Lee who was elected through the district in the 1995.

The pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) and the pro-democracy Democratic Party became the two dominant forces in the district after the handover. For the DAB, its vice-chairman Cheung Hok-ming who is also the chairman of the Tai Po Rural Committee has been the chairman of the council from 1994 to 2003 and again from 2008. For the Democratic Party, it was the base of the reformist "Young Turks" faction in the party represented by Legislative Councillor Andrew Cheng, until they broke away from the Democrats over the disagreement on the constitutional reform proposal in 2010 and formed the Neo Democrats.

In the 2019 election, the pro-democrats formed a coalition called Tai Po Democratic Alliance (TPDA) running in 17 constituencies against the pro-Beijing candidates. The pro-democrats achieved a historic landslide victory by sweeping all the elected seats in the council amid the massive pro-democracy protests. The pro-Beijing camp was completely wiped out except for the two ex-officio members who were also the Rural Committee chairmen.

In the 2023 District Council election, 4 of the 22 seats on the Tai Po District Council are elected by elected members, 8 are elected by district committees, 8 are appointed members, and 2 ex-officio members make up the current Tai Po District Council. In the District Council, 11 of the 22 members are independent members, 6 are from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, 1 from the Federation of Trade Unions, 3 from the BPA, and 1 from the New People Party. 22 of the 22 members 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 Reform Club 1985 - 1988




Pro-government Meeting Point 1988 - 1991




Pro-government LDF 1991 - 1994




Pro-Beijing Liberal 1994 - 1997




Pro-Beijing Liberal 1997 - 1999




Pro-Beijing Democratic 2000 - 2003




Pro-Beijing Democratic 2004 - 2007




Pro-Beijing DAB 2008 - 2011




Pro-Beijing DAB 2012 - 2015




Pro-Beijing DAB 2016 - 2019




Pro-democracy Neo Democrats 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 3 8 5 8 8 8 6
11 / 21
  CA - - - - - - 4
4 / 21
  TPDA - - - - - - 4
1 / 21
  Civic Passion - - - - - - 1
1 / 21

District result maps

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Members represented

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Capacity Code Constituency Name Term Political affiliation Notes
Elected P01 Tai Po South Peggy Wong Pik-kiu 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Lo Hiu-fung 1 January 2024 Incumbent BPA
P02 Tai Po North Wu Cheuk-him 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Lok Siu-luen 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
District Committees Lee Man-kit 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Barry Mui Siu-fung 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Wong Wai-tung 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Kitty Chan Kin-kwan 1 January 2024 Incumbent NPP
Rex Li Wah-kwong 1 January 2024 Incumbent BPA
Gary Mak Shing-ho 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Chan Siu-kuen 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Ken Yu Chi-wing 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Appointed Chan Pok-chi 1 January 2024 Incumbent DAB
Chan Yung-wa 1 January 2024 Incumbent FTU
Chan Cho-leung 1 January 2024 Incumbent BPA
Jeanne Lee Sai-yin 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Lee Hon-cheung 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Mui Ching-hung 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Chan Tsz-kin 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Johnny Wan Koon-kau 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Ex Officio Tai Po Rural Committee Chairman Lam Yick-kuen 1 January 2024 Incumbent Independent
Sai Kung North Rural Committee Chairman Li Yiu-ban 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
Nicky Lo Kar-chun 1981–1983 District Officer
Thomas Chan Chun-yuen 1983–1985 District Officer
Ho Yung-sang 1985–1994 Heung Yee Kuk
Cheung Hok-ming 1994–2003 DAB/Heung Yee Kuk
Cheng Chun-ping 2004–2007 DAB
Cheung Hok-ming 2008–2019 DAB/Heung Yee Kuk
Wong Pik-kiu 2019 DAB
Kwan Wing-yip 2020–2021 Neo DemocratsIndependent
Patrick Mo Ka-chun 2021–2023 TPDA
Eunice Chan Hau-man 2024–present District Officer

Vice Chairs

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Vice Chairman Years Political Affiliation
Cheng Chun-ping 2000–2003 DAB
Wan Kwok-lim 2004–2007 Independent
Man Chen-fai 2008–2011 Heung Yee Kuk
Wong Pik-kiu 2012–2019 DAB
Cheng Chun-ping 2019 DAB
Lau Yung-wai 2020–2023 Independent

Notes

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References

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22°26′46″N 114°10′00″E / 22.4461°N 114.1666°E / 22.4461; 114.1666