The Sha Tin District Council is the district council for the Sha Tin District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Sha Tin District Council currently consists of 42 members, of which the district is divided into four constituencies, electing a total of 8 members, 16 district committee members, 17 appointed members, and one ex officio member who is the Sha Tinrural committee chairman. The latest election was held on 10 December 2023.
History
The Sha Tin District Council was established on 1 April 1981 under the name of the Sha Tin District Board as the result of the colonial GovernorMurray MacLehose's District Administration Scheme reform. The District Board was partly elected with the ex-officioRegional Council members and Sha Tin Rural Committee chairman, as well as members appointed by the Governor until 1994 when last Governor Chris Patten refrained from appointing any member.
The Sha Tin District Board became Sha Tin Provisional District Board after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was established in 1997 with the appointment system being reintroduced by Chief ExecutiveTung Chee-hwa. The current Sha Tin 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.
In 2014, Regina Ip's New People's Party (NPP) expanded its network to Sha Tin by absorbing the Civil Force, making NPP the largest party in the district. In the 2015 District Council election, the first election after the Umbrella Revolution, the pan-democrats made a surprising advance in the district, doubling their seats from 8 to 19 seats by defeating a number of veteran Civil Force councillors. The DAB also suffered some unexpected defeats in Ma On Shan, with incumbent Legislative Councillor Elizabeth Quat lost her seat to Labour Party new face Yip Wing in Chung On. However, The pro-Beijing camp was able to retain control of the council with a one-seat majority of the ex-officio seat occupied by the Sha Tin Rural Committee chairman.[2]
In the historic landslide victory in 2019, the pro-democrats took control of the council by sweeping 40 of the 41 elected seats. Only the new constituency Di Yee was won by pro-Beijing DAB as two pro-democrat candidates split the votes which gave the DAB the victory.
In the 2023 District Council election, 8 of the 42 seats on the Sha Tin District Council will be elected by elected members, 16 seats will be elected by district committees, 17 appointed members, and 1 ex-officio member will form the current Sha Tin District In the Parliament, among the 42 members, 16 are independent members, 13 are from the New People Party, 9 are from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of China, 3 are from the Federation of Trade Unions, and 1 is from the BPA. Among the 42 members of the House of Representatives, 42 are from the pro-establishment camp.
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
None
1982–1985
Pro-government
None
1985–1988
Pro-government
Hong Kong Affairs Society
1988–1991
Pro-government
United Democrats
1991–1994
Pro-Beijing
Civil Force
1994–1997
Pro-Beijing
Civil Force
1997–1999
Pro-Beijing
Civil Force
2000–2003
Pro-Beijing
Civil Force
2004–2007
Pro-Beijing
Civil Force
2008–2011
Pro-Beijing
Civil Force → NPP/CF
2012–2015
Pro-Beijing
NPP/CF
2016–2019
Pro-democracy
Civic → Democratic
2020–2023
Political makeup
Elections are held every four years.
As of October 19, 2020:
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