Commercial (First) functional constituency

History

The Commercial (First) functional constituency was established as First Commercial, one of the two commercial electoral divisions elected by the 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:

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. 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 Liberal Party chairman and Executive Councillor 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

Before 1985

After 1985

Electoral results

2020s

|reg. electors = 1,041

2010s

|reg. electors = 1,086

|reg. electors = 927

2000s

|reg. electors = 1,040

|reg. electors = 1,077

|reg. electors = 1,325

1990s

|reg. electors = 1,353

|reg. electors = 1,273

|reg. electors = 1,609

1980s

References

References

1. "Chamber Legislative Council Representatives". The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.
2. Fong, Bernard. (20 August 1988). "It's party time for Hongkong's politicians". South China Morning Post.
3. "Chamber Legislative Council Representatives". The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.
4. "2008 Legislative Council Election".
5. [http://www.elections.gov.hk/elections/legco2004/english/results/rs_fc_overall.html 2004 Legislative Council Election – Election Results] {{webarchive. link. (17 July 2012)
6. [http://www.elections.gov.hk/elections/legco2000/update/result/fc_e.htm Legislative Council Elections Results] {{webarchive. link. (29 August 2012)