Sai Kung District Council

Sai Kung District Council 西貢區議會
Type
Type	Hong Kong District Council of the Sai Kung District
History
Founded	1 April 1981 (1981-04-01) (District Board) 1 July 1997 (1997-07-01) (Provisional) 1 January 2000 (2000-01-01) (District Council)
Leadership
Chair	Kathy Ma King-fan, Independent
Vice-Chair	Vacant
Structure
Seats	32 councillors consisting of 6 elected members 12 district committee members 12 appointed members 2 ex-officio members
DAB	10 / 32
FTU	3 / 32
NPP/CF	3 / 32
PP	1 / 32
Liberal	1 / 32
Independent	14 / 32
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	10 December 2023
Meeting place
4/F, Sai Kung Tseung Kwan O Government Complex, 38 Pui Shing Road, Tseung Kwan O
Website
www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/sk/

The Sai Kung District Council (Chinese: 西貢區議會) is the district council for the Sai Kung District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Sai Kung District Council currently consists of 32 members, of which the district is divided into three constituencies, electing a total of 6 members, 12 district committee members, 12 appointed members, and two ex-officio members who are the Hang Hau and Sai Kung rural committee chairmen. The latest election was held on 10 December 2023.

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

The Sai Kung District Board became Sai Kung 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 Sai Kung 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 Sai Kung District Council is one of the fastest growing councils due to the rapid development of Tseung Kwan O new town in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Traditionally dominated by the rural forces, different political parties also established its presence in the urban area in the 1990s. The pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) doubled their seats from four to eight after absorbed the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance (HKPA) in 2005 and became the largest party in the council. The pro-Beijing Civil Force which has been in alliance with the New People's Party also has substantial presence in the district. The pro-democracy camp in the district was represented by the Democratic Party, until it lost half of its seats after the reformist faction led by Gary Fan quit the party and formed the Neo Democrats in 2010 over the disagreement on the constitutional reform proposal.

In the 2019 election, the pro-democrats scored a landslide victory by taking 26 of the 29 seats in the council, with Neo Democrats becoming the largest party and Concern Group for Tseung Kwan O People's Livelihood (CGPLTKO) the second largest grouping. The pro-Beijing camp was almost completely wiped out from the council, except for the two ex-officio Rural Committee chairmen and three moderate councillors led by Christine Fong.

In the 2023 District Council election, 6 of the 32 seats on the Sai Kung District Council are elected by elected members, 12 are elected by district committees, 12 appointed members, and 2 ex-officio members make up the current Sai Kung District In the Parliament, among the 32 seats, there are 14 independent members, 10 seats from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, 3 seats from the Federation of Trade Unions, 3 seats from the New People Party, 1 seat from the Liberal Party, and 1 seat from the Professional Dynamics. Among the 22 members, the pro-establishment camp holds 22 seats.

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

Elections are held every four years.

• 
  1994
• 
  1999
• 
  2003
• 
  2007
• 
  2011
• 
  2015
• 
  2019

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

22°19′02″N 114°16′06″E / 22.3173°N 114.2682°E / 22.3173; 114.2682