Commercial (First)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Commercial (First)
商界（第一）
Functional constituency
for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Country Hong Kong
Electorate1,041 (2021)[1]
Current constituency
Created1985
Number of membersOne
Member(s)Jeffrey Lam (BPA)

The Commercial (First) functional constituency (Chinese: 商界（第一）功能界別) is a functional constituency in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong first created in 1985. The constituency is composed of corporate members of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) that are entitled to vote at general meetings of the Chamber.

It is one of the oldest functional constituencies created for the first elections to the Legislative Council in 1985. Prior to that, the Chamber had its representatives in the council thoroughly through elections at the general meetings since 1884.[2] It corresponds to the Commercial (First) Subsector in the Election Committee.

History

The Commercial (First)

chambers of commerce. It was one of the original 12 functional constituency seats created for the 1985 Legislative Council election, the first ever election for the colonial legislature. It was composed of bodies that are members of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
(HKGCC) entitled to vote at general meetings of the chamber. Prior to that, the Chamber had its representatives in the council thoroughly through elections at the general meetings since 1884. The representatives are listed as following:

1884–1985 Chamber Legislative Council representatives[3]

Since its creation, it has been held by pro-business conservatives for the exception of former government official Jimmy McGregor, a liberal-leaning representative who defeated Veronica Wu of the conservative bloc Group of 88 in the 1988 Legislative Council election and held the office from 1988 to 1995.[4] He co-founded the pro-democracy professional-oriented Hong Kong Democratic Foundation (HKDF) and was an ally of the last governor Chris Patten over the controversial constitutional reform proposal.

From 1998 to 2004, the seat was held by pro-business

James Tien until he contested in the direct election in the 2004 Legislative Council election. Tien's successor Jeffrey Lam who has held the seat since 2004 abruptly quit the Liberal Party in 2008 in the intra-party split. He became representative for the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong
(BPA) and has become member of the Executive Council.

Return members

Election Member Party
1985 Thomas Clydesdale
Nonpartisan
1988 Jimmy McGregor
Nonpartisan
1991 HKDF
1995 Paul Cheng
Independent
Not represented in the PLC
1998 James Tien Liberal
2000
2004 Jeffrey Lam Liberal
2008
Independent→Economic Synergy
2012 Economic Synergy→BPA
2016 BPA
2021

Electoral results

2020s

2021 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BPA
Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung
 		628 86.15
Nonpartisan
 Edmond Yew Yat-ming 101 13.85
Majority 527 72.30
Total valid votes 729 100.00
Rejected ballots 15
Turnout 744 72.94
Registered electors 1,041
BPA
hold 		Swing

2010s

2016 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BPA Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung 455 53.97
Liberal Joseph Chan Ho-lim 388 46.03
Majority 67 7.94
Total valid votes 843 100.00
Rejected ballots 18
Turnout 861 82.39
Registered electors 1,086
BPA hold Swing
2012 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Economic Synergy
Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung
 		Unopposed
Registered electors 927
Economic Synergy hold Swing

2000s

[5]
2008 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal
Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung
 		465 70.24
Independent
 Markus Joytak Shaw 197 29.76
Majority 268 40.48
Total valid votes 662 100.00
Rejected ballots 32
Turnout 694 66.73
Registered electors 1,040
Liberal hold Swing
[6]
2004 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal
Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung
 		Unopposed
Registered electors 1,077
Liberal hold Swing
[7]
2000 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal James Tien Pei-chun Unopposed
Registered electors 1,325
Liberal hold Swing

1990s

[7]
1998 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal James Tien Pei-chun Unopposed
Registered electors 1,353
Liberal win (new seat)
1995 Legislative Council election: Commercial (First)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent
Paul Cheng Ming-fun
 		Unopposed
Registered electors 1,273
Independent gain from HKDF
 Swing
1991 Legislative Council election: First Commercial
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
HKDF James David McGregor 487 53.93
BPF
Paul Cheng Ming-fun
 416 46.07
Majority 71 7.86
Total valid votes 903 100.00
Rejected ballots 8
Turnout 911 56.62
Registered electors 1,609
HKDF hold Swing

1980s

1988 Legislative Council election: First Commercial
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nonpartisan
 		James David McGregor 478 66.95
Nonpartisan
 Veronica Wu Shao-ching 236 33.05
Majority 242 33.90
Total valid votes 714 100.00
Nonpartisan
hold 		Swing
1985 Legislative Council election: First Commercial
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nonpartisan
 		Thomas Clydesdale 470 59.49
Nonpartisan
 A. C. William Blaauw 320 40.51
Majority 150 18.98
Total valid votes 790 100.00
Nonpartisan
win (new seat)

References

  1. ^ "Voter Registration Statistics : Functional Constituency". Voter Registration.
  2. ^ "Chamber Legistative Council Representatives". The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.
  3. ^ "Chamber Legistative Council Representatives". The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.
  4. ^ Fong, Bernard (20 August 1988). "It's party time for Hongkong's politicians". South China Morning Post.
  5. ^ "2008 Legislative Council Election". Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  6. ^ 2004 Legislative Council Election – Election Results Archived 17 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b Legislative Council Elections Results Archived 29 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commercial_(First)&oldid=1220047693"