Islands District Council

The Islands District Council is the district council for the Islands District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Islands District currently consists of 18 members, of which the district is divided into 10 constituencies, electing a total of 10 with 8 ex-officio members who is the Peng Chau, Lamma North, Tung Chung, Lamma South, Tai O, Lantau South, Mui Wo and Cheung Chau rural committee chairmen. The latest election was held on 24 November 2019.

Islands District Council

離島區議會
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1981; 43 years ago (1981-04-01) (District Board)
1 July 1997; 27 years ago (1997-07-01) (Provisional)
1 January 2000; 24 years ago (2000-01-01) (District Council)
Leadership
Chair
Amy Yeung Wai-sum, Independent
Vice-Chair
Vacant
Structure
Seats18 councillors
consisting of
2 elected members
4 district committee members
4 appointed members
8 ex officio members
3 / 18
1 / 18
14 / 18
Elections
First past the post
Last election
10 December 2023
Meeting place
20/F., Harbour Building, 38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong
Website
www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/island/
Islands District Council
Traditional Chinese離島區議會
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationLèih dóu kēui yíh wuih
JyutpingLei4 dou2 keoi1 ji5 wui6

History

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Emblem of Islands District Board (1982–1997)

The Islands District Council was established on 1 April 1981 under the name of the Islands 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 eight Rural Committees, Peng Chau, Lamma North, Tung Chung, Lamma South, Tai O, Lantau South, Mui Wo and Cheung Chau, as well as members appointed by the Governor until 1994 when last Governor Chris Patten refrained from appointing any member.

The Islands District Board became the Islands 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 Islands 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 Islands District Council has the most number of eight ex-officio seats and is dominated by the rural forces. As the Tung Chung new town was developed in the early 2000s, some political parties have also successfully made attempts in those areas, notably Tang Ka-piu of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) in Yat Tung Estate North and Holden Chow of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) in Tung Chung South. Amy Yung Wing-sheung of the pro-democracy Civic Party has also held Discovery Bay since 2000.

In the historic landslide victory in 2019 election, Islands District Council became the only council where pro-democrats gained the majority of the elected seats but failed to take control of the council due to the 8 ex-officio seats. However, the pro-democrats got 7 of the 10 elected seats and ousted DAB legislator Holden Chow for District Council (Second) from his seat.

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 None 1988 - 1991




Pro-government None 1991 - 1994




Pro-Beijing DAB 1994 - 1997




Pro-Beijing DAB 1997 - 1999




Pro-Beijing DAB 2000 - 2003




Pro-Beijing DAB 2004 - 2007




Pro-Beijing DAB 2008 - 2011




Pro-Beijing DAB 2012 - 2015




Pro-Beijing DAB 2016 - 2019




Pro-Beijing Civic → DAB 2020 - 2023




Pro-Beijing Independent 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 4 5 4 3 3 2 6
15 / 18
  Civic - - - 2 1 1 2
1 / 18
  DAB 2 2 4 4 4 3 1
1 / 18
  Democratic 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
1 / 18

District result maps

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Members represented

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Capacity Code Constituency Name Political affiliation Term Notes
Elected T01 Islands Yip Pui-kei DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lau Chin-pang FTU 1 January 2024 Incumbent
District Committees Mealoha Kwok Wai-man DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lau Shun-ting DAB 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Luo Chenghuan Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Jonathan Chow Yuen-kuk Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Appointed Randy Yu Hon-kwan Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Ng Choi-wah Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lau Shun-ting Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lau Shuk-han Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Ex Officio Peng Chau Rural Committee Chairman Wong Hon-kuen Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lamma North Rural Committee Chairman Chan Lin-wai Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Tung Chung Rural Committee Chairman Wong Chau-ping Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lamma South Rural Committee Chairman Chow Yuk-tong Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Tai O Rural Committee Chairman Ho Siu-kei Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Lantau South Rural Committee Chairman Ho Chun-fai Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Mui Wo Rural Committee Chairman Wong Man-hon Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent
Cheung Chau Rural Committee Chairman Yung Chi-ming Independent 1 January 2024 Incumbent

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
Fok Siu-tung 1981 District Officer
Ricky Fung 1981–1983 District Officer
William Yap 1983–1985 District Officer
Daniel Lam Wai-keung 1985–2011 Heung Yee Kuk
Chow Yuk-tong 2012–2019 Heung Yee Kuk
Randy Yu Hon-kwan 2020–2023 Heung Yee Kuk
Amy Yeung Wai-sum 2024–present District Officer

Vice Chairs

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Vice Chairman Years Political Affiliation
Chau Chuen-heung 2000–2015 DAB
Randy Yu Hon-kwan 2016–2019 Heung Yee Kuk
Wong Man-hon 2020–2023 Heung Yee Kuk

Notes

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References

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22°17′12″N 114°09′18″E / 22.286724°N 114.155121°E / 22.286724; 114.155121