The 2023 Hong Kong District Council elections were held on 10 December 2023 for all 18 District Councils of Hong Kong, electing 264 of the 470 seats in the councils. Under the new electoral system, 88 of the elected 264 seats were directly elected by 4.3 million voters, while 176 of them were indirectly elected among some 2,400 members of the government-appointed District Committees. More than one-third of the remaining seats were appointed by the Chief Executive.
The electoral changes passed earlier in the year revived appointed seats in the deliberation bodies, introduced seats elected by government-appointed District Committees, and tightened eligibility with vetting and mandatory nomination from the District Committee members. As a result, this is the first election in Hong Kong contested by pro-Beijing candidates only, as the pro-democracy camp, which won a landslide in the last election amidst protests, had faced challenges since under the national security law, and under the new electoral rules, both pro-democracy and moderate parties failed to earn enough nominations to enter the race.
Despite the government's efforts to boost the voter turnout, only 1.19 million voters, or 27.5% of registered voters cast their ballots, the lowest ever in the Hong Kong District Council's history and the lowest among all elections since China took control of Hong Kong. The largest pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) regained its status as the largest party in the district councils, winning 109 seats, while many smaller parties, which lacked strong community networks and resources, failed to win many seats.
Background Suppression of pro-democrats
In the previous District Council elections, in 2019, the pro-democracy camp in conjunction with the localist camp achieved its biggest landslide victory in the history of Hong Kong, gaining absolute majority in votes and electoral seats in all of the 18 District Councils and tripling their seats from around 124 to about 388 amid the highly intensified territory-wide anti-government protests. In response, the Beijing government installed the far-reaching Hong Kong national security law and the massive overhaul of the city's Legislative Council electoral system.
In May 2021, the Hong Kong government passed the Public Offices (Candidacy and Taking Up Offices) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2021 to imposes oath-taking requirements on District Council members. Six months before the bill passage, dozens of opposition District Councillors resigned for refusal to take an oath under the new law.
In early July 2021, the government reportedly considered banning 230 councillors to take oath of office and would ask them return their accrued salaries which worth around a million dollars. Such reports triggered a mass resignation of more than 260 pro-democracy councillors, while eight other had been unseated as they were in custody or had left the city.
Following four oath-taking ceremonies starting in early September, oaths taken by 49 District Councillors were ruled invalid without any explanation. Together with the councillors who resigned, fled and imprisoned, it left a total of more than 70 per cent seats in the 18 District Councils vacant. Under the amended Oaths and Declarations Ordinance, the disqualified District Councillors would be banned from standing in elections for the next five years.
The pro-Beijing camp was able to take back control of several councils, including Kowloon City, Kwun Tong, Wan Chai and North District. The number of the members in some councils also reduced significantly, Wong Tai Sin to just two members, Central and Western District to three members, and Southern District to four, which paralysed some of the functions of these councils. Nevertheless, Chief Executive Carrie Lam in July 2021 announced that no by-elections would be held during her tenure.
Election overhaul
On 2 May 2023, Chief Executive John Lee announced a major revamp of the District Council electoral system to prevent the councils from being "manipulated and paralysed" by those promoting "separatism" and violence, safeguard national security and implement the principle of "patriots running Hong Kong". Under the plan, the number of the elected seats will be significantly reduced to around 20 per cent, while each of the 40 per cent of the seats will be returned by indirect elections and appointed by the Chief Executive.
A total of 88 directly-elected seats in 44 constituencies will be returned by double-seat single-vote system, while 176 indirectly-elected seats will be elected by members of the government-appointed District Committees, or "three committees" (), namely the District Fight Crime Committees (DFCCs), the District Fire Safety Committees (DFSCs), the Area Committees (ACs), in the respective district by block vote. All candidates must obtain three nominations from each of the three committees besides more than 50 local voters and confirm their eligibility through an eligibility review committee to decide whether a candidate complies with the legal requirements and conditions of upholding the Basic Law and bearing allegiance to the government.
On 28 September, David Lok Kai-hong, chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), said the opening hours for the District Council elections will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., an hour less when compared to the previous term in 2019 but the same as that of the Legislative Council election in 2021.
Veteran litigant Kwok Cheuk-kin, who was also a member of the Democratic Party known as the "King of Judicial Review", filed an application for judicial review in November against the nomination system, arguing that some three-quarters of the candidates were also on three committees responsible for deciding who could stand, making it hard for non-committee members to get nominated.
High Court Judge Russell Coleman reportedly said that it was "surprising" that most of the committee members had made nominations from among their own members, but dismissed Kwok's appeal dismissed, ruling that the it was "not sufficient" to conclude that it was only because of an unfairness in the nomination system that the pro-democracy politicians did not secure enough nominations. "What is shown is that members of the 3Cs [three committees] tend to favour themselves or their peers. But that is not necessarily inappropriate when the individual characteristic of members of the 3Cs (part of the reason they were appointed in the first place) is taken into account," Coleman said in the statement.
Composition DistrictsGeographical ConstituenciesDistrict Committees Constituencies SeatsAppointed SeatsEx-officio SeatsTotal Seats±ConstituenciesSeatsCentral and WesternCentral, Western488 —20Wan ChaiWan Chai244 —103EasternTai Pak, Hong Wan, Chai Wan61212 —305SouthernSouthern District Southeast, Southern District Northwest488 —203Yau Tsim MongYau Tsim Mong South, Yau Tsim Mong North488 —200Sham Shui PoSham Shui Po West, Sham Shui Po East488 —205Kowloon CityKowloon City North, Kowloon City South488 —205Wong Tai SinWong Tai Sin East, Wong Tai Sin West488 —205Kwun TongKwun Tong Southeast, Kwun Tong Central, Kwun Tong North, Kwun Tong West81616 —400Tsuen WanTsuen Wan Northwest, Tsuen Wan Southeast4882221Tuen MunTuen Mun East, Tuen Mun West, Tuen Mun North612131320Yuen LongYuen Long Town Centre, Yuen Long Rural East, Tin Shui Wai South and Ping Ha, Tin Shui Wai North816166461NorthWu Tip Shan, Robin's Nest4884242Tai PoTai Po South, Tai Po North4882221Sai KungSai Kung and Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O South, Tseung Kwan O North612122321Sha TinSha Tin West, Sha Tin East, Sha Tin South, Sha Tin North816171420Kwai TsingTsing Yi, Kwai Chung East, Kwai Chung West612131320IslandsIslands2448180Total88176179274709
Contesting parties
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB): The flagship pro-government party announced that it would send 122 candidates to contest all 44 geographical constituencies and the indirectly-elected District Committees constituencies. Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA): The pro-business party announced 20 members are to run in the elections. Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU): FTU confirmed a total of 46 names would be put forward, 25 of which would run in geographical constituencies. New People's Party (NPP) and Civil Force: NPP, together with the regional-based Civil Force, will send 29 candidates to run for the election, including 17 running for geographical constituency direct elections and 12 running for District Committees constituency indirect election. Liberal Party: Liberals endorsed four candidates in the elected constituencies, all on the Hong Kong Island, and other three for the indirectly-elected seats. Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions (FLU): FLU will fill two candidates, one in the Sham Shui Po East geographical constituency and one in the indirectly-elected constituency in Yuen Long District. Roundtable: Led by former vice-chairman of the New People's Party Michael Tien, the party planned to send five candidates but struggled to gain nomination. Regina Ip, NPP chair, initially pledged to support Roundtable but the party later declined to endorse. Only one of its members had got the number of nominations required to stand in the end. Professional Power (PP): Three members from the Sai Kung-based group would run for the district's constituencies. New Prospect for Hong Kong (NPHK): The recently founded New Prospect for Hong Kong will fill five candidates in North, Yuen Long, Kowloon City and Wong Tai Sin districts. Path of Democracy (PoD): Convenor Ronny Tong said around six to seven of its party members expressed interest in running, but he reassessed that only one or two could be successfully nominated. Bauhinia Party: This local poll would be the first for the three-year-old party, expected to field five candidates. But only one of its members eventually ran in the election.
Nominations The Electoral Affairs Commission received 400 nominations in the nomination period, 228 of which were running for the 176 seats in the District Committee constituencies indirectly elected by some 2,500 members of the "three committees" and 171 for the 88 seats in the 44 geographical constituencies directly elected 4.3 million registered voters. None of the candidates was from the opposition camp, which first joined the local elections in 1985. According to Hong Kong Free Press's calculation, more than 75 per cent of the geographical constituencies candidates were also members of the three committees which were responsible for nominating candidates.
The pro-democracy parties which intended to run had experienced difficulties in seeking nominations from the members of the "three committees", many of which came from the pro-Beijing parties, as the Home Affairs Department refused to disclose personal contact details citing the "privacy of personal data".
The Democratic Party became the first remaining pro-democracy party to announce that they would contest in the election with six candidates, two less than expected. However on 30 October, it announced that none of its candidates had succeeded in getting the nominations from the "three committees" required to run. As a result, the party would be absent in the district council election for the first time since its establishment in 1994.
Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) was second in the pro-democracy camp to declare the intention to join the elections by filling two candidates. Neither of its candidates was able to enter the race.
Third Side, the only non-establishment party in the legislature, abandoned the campaign as three hopefuls could not receive enough nominations.