Nearly one-third of candidates vying for seats in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) election are current district councilors, leveraging their local roots for potential elevation into the city’s top legislative body. This influx of community figures, with 49 serving councilors among the 161 total candidates, signals a notable shift in the local political landscape following recent electoral reforms designed to enhance regional governance.
The opportunity for upward mobility among local officials has become a key feature of the restructured political system. An article from the Mainland and Hong Kong Affairs Office (HKMAO) described the rise of these “community workers rooted in the grassroots” as directly responding to the urgent need for optimizing and improving district-level administration. The current electoral iteration follows the 2022 overhaul of district councils, which created a tiered system of local administration involving the councils, the “Three Committees” (Area Committees, District Fight Crime Committees, and District Fire Safety Committees), and the community care teams, known as the “Care Teams.”
The District Pipeline
The concentration of district councilors running for LegCo is spread across the territory, with Kwun Tong district accounting for the largest number of candidates (seven), followed by Kwai Tsing and Eastern districts (five each). This trend demonstrates that, despite a reduction in directly elected components in recent years, community-level service remains a viable, albeit newly redefined, pathway for political advancement.
Significantly, many candidates hold multiple roles, often serving simultaneously as members of the Care Teams and the Three Committees. This overlap necessitated clear guidelines regarding how they manage their public duties during the election period. The government mandated last year that Care Team members running as candidates, or acting as election agents, must inform their respective operating groups and the Home Affairs Department, immediately suspend their Care Team duties, and refrain from utilizing Care Team resources for their campaigns. Consequently, over 52 candidates—more than 30% of the field—are Care Team members, with many more suspended due to roles as campaign agents. The affected individuals are marked on the Care Team’s official website as “temporarily suspended due to election matters.”
Navigating Dual Roles and Suspension
In contrast to the strict rules for Care Team members, the guidelines governing District Councilors’ conduct during elections are less stringent. The District Councilors’ Performance Monitoring System Guidelines do not require officials vying for other public office to suspend their council duties. However, officials are required to strictly separate district council operations and election activities.
The Home Affairs Department issued a reminder to councilors to avoid using operational or miscellaneous expenses allocated for district council functions for non-related electoral purposes. If a councilor’s office or staff assist with election activities during working hours, the councilor must declare the proportion of expenses related to the election to ensure proportional deductions from council subsidies.
While the government does not mandate suspension, some community officials have voluntarily taken leave to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Local figures argue that, unlike Care Teams, where others can fill in, the district councilor role is irreplaceable within their office, making suspension highly problematic for day-to-day operations.
“District Councils continue meeting as usual, and the candidates attend,” noted one community figure. “As long as the roles and expenses are clearly demarcated, there should be no issue. Temporarily stepping down seems like going above and beyond.”
The Home Affairs Department reaffirmed its long-standing approach, stating that district officials, including councilors, must continue to fulfill their council duties even while running for LegCo.
Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki addressed the issue of overlapping public roles, emphasizing that all LegCo members must demonstrate the ability to manage their time effectively to ensure their legislative work is not compromised. This flexibility will be critical, as many district councilors are expected to be elected, raising questions about how they will juggle their dual governmental responsibilities within the reformed political structure.
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