The Tsuen Wan District Council (; noted as TW) is the district council for the Tsuen Wan District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Tsuen Wan 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 is the Tsuen Wan and Ma Wan rural committee chairmen. The latest election was held on 10 December 2023.
History The Tsuen Wan District Council was established on 1 April 1981 under the name of the Tsuen Wan District Board as one of the eight New Territories District Boards as the result of the colonial Governor Murray MacLehose's District Administration Scheme reform. However, it was regarded as among the oldest District Boards since its precursor, the Tsuen Wan New Town Recreation and Amenities (Advisory) Committee, was founded in March 1976 which gave rise to the Tsuen Wan District Advisory Board in 1977 and was retitled the Tsuen Wan District Board in 1981. The District Board was partly elected with the ex-officio Regional Council members and Tsuen Wan and Ma Wan Rural Committees' chairmen, as well as members appointed by the Governor until 1994 when last Governor Chris Patten refrained from appointing any member.
The Tsuen Wan District originally included also today's Kwai Tsing District until 1985 when a new District Board was set up for Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi due to its large population. The Tsuen Wan District Board became Tsuen Wan 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 Tsuen Wan 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 Tsuen Wan District Council has been dominated by the conservative independents. Former Democratic Party Legislative Councillor Albert Chan also had a long base in the district before he gave up his seat to contest in Tuen Mun against Democrat chairman Albert Ho for the People Power. As the Democratic Party's influence slowly declined and received their territory-wide defeat in the 2007 election, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) gradually became the largest party in the council, returning its long-time district councillor Chan Han-pan to the Legislative Council since 2012. The Civic Party has also been established its base in Lei Muk Shue with veteran councillor Sumly Chan, while New People's Party (NPP) Michael Tien also set a foothold at the Discovery Park since 2011, until he quit the NPP in 2016.
The pro-democrats seized the control of the council in the historic landslide victory in the 2019 election amid the massive pro-democracy protests by taking 16 of the 19 elected seats in the council. The pro-Beijing camp suffered devastating defeats, with incumbent legislators Chan Han-pan failing to pass his seat to his successor and Michael Tien losing his seat to new challenger Lau Cheuk-yu of the newly-founded local-based Deliberation Tsuen Wan.
Political control Since 1982 political control of the council has been held by the following parties: Camp in control Largest party Years Composition No Overall Control Civic Association 1982–1985 Pro-government Civic Association 1985–1988 Pro-government ADPL → United Democrats 1988–1991 Pro-government United Democrats 1991–1994 Pro-Beijing Democratic 1994–1997 Pro-Beijing Democratic 1997–1999 Pro-Beijing Democratic 2000–2003 Pro-Beijing Democratic 2004–2007 Pro-Beijing DAB/Democratic → DAB 2008–2011 Pro-Beijing DAB 2012–2015 Pro-Beijing DAB 2016–2019 Pro-democracy → NOC Civic → None 2020–2023 Pro-Beijing DAB 2024–2027
Political makeup
Elections are held every four years. Political party Council members Currentmembers 1994 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Independent 9 7 9 7 7 6 4 Democratic 2 6 5 3 1 1 3 DTW - - - - - 0 2 FTU - - - - 1 1 1 Labour - - - - - - 1 FPHE - - - - - - 1 TWCN - - - - - - 1
District result maps
Members represented
Leadership Chairs Since 1985, the chairman is elected by all the members of the board: Chairman Years Political Affiliation James Hayes 1981–1982 District Officer N. W. H. Macleod 1982–1983 District Officer Adolf H. Hsu 1983–1985 District Officer Chau How-chen 1985–1994 Independent Chan Lau-fong 1994–1999 Heung Yee Kuk Chau How-chen 2000–2011 Independent Star Chan Iu-seng 2012–2015 Independent Chung Wai-ping 2016–2019 Heung Yee Kuk Wong Wai-kit 2019 Independent Sumly Chan Yuen-sum 2020–2023 Civic→Independent Billy Au Ka-shing 2024–present District Officer
Vice Chairs Vice Chairman Years Political Affiliation Chan Wai-ming 2000–2003 Independent Chung Wai-ping 2004–2015 Heung Yee Kuk Wong Wai-kit 2016–2019 Independent Chan Sung-ip 2019 Heung Yee Kuk Li Hung-por 2020–2021 Democratic Yau Kam-ping 2021–2023 Independent
Notes
References