Who’s standing for Legco? Too few women, too many old boys

With moderate old-timers seeking a comeback, awkward contests indicative of the stronghold of the old boys’ club and a lack of women, Beijing should see this as making a strong case for greater diversity

Alice Wu

Published: 6:45am, 15 Nov 2021

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In the last Legislative Council election in 2016, there were 289 valid nominations, out of which 213 candidates contested the 35 geographical constituency seats.

Under the new and improved system, there are fewer valid nominations, but it doesn’t mean less competition. There are fewer people in the running for more lawmaker seats since Legco has been enlarged from 70 seats to 90.

Candidates, however, are no longer running on what used to be long nomination lists in the geographical constituencies so there are no longer hopeless “hopefuls” – those so far down the list there is no way they could win a seat – adding to the headcount.

And as the Post reported, Beijing does not want walkovers, which had previously plagued the trade-based functional constituencies; for the first time in history, Hong Kong has no uncontested seat.

We are also seeing some old-timers attempting a comeback in this election. Former lawmaker Nelson Wong Sing-chi, previously a long-time Democratic Party member, is contesting the seat in the New Territories North East geographical constituency. Wong was kicked out of the Democratic Party in 2015 for wanting to petition others to conditionally accept a Beijing-decreed political reform proposal.

Nelson Wong announcing his bid for the 2018 legislative by-election in January that year; he did not win. Photo: Winson Wong

Continuing to go against the grain of the pan-democrat parties, which have apparently decided to sit out this election, Wong decided to run, revealing that Beijing’s liaison office had approached him not once, but twice, about his intention to stand. A pro-establishment heavyweight helped him secure the nominations he needed. So Wong, obviously, is a Beijing-accepted opposition member.

Wong is not alone. Another ex-lawmaker, Frederick Fung Kin-kee, the former leader of the Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood, is also hoping to win a seat.

Before Wong and Fung, there was also ex-lawmaker and former Civic Party member Mandy Tam Heung-man. She was nominated by Maggie Chan Man-ki, a “colleague” in the district council but political foe nonetheless – Chan had run in the Kowloon East geographically constituency before, under the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. This year, Chan is also running in the Election Committee constituency, vying for one of the 40 seats against 50 others.

What is most striking here is that Chan nominated Tam knowing it would attract attention, and potentially criticism, when she needed to run her own campaign. Time will tell whether her nomination of Tam turns out to be a good bet. Remember, Election Committee members have not been generous with their nominations, making it hard for moderates to enter the race.

Maggie Chan (left) and singer Cally Kwong pose with face masks after taking part in the Universal Community Testing Programme at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on September 2, 2020. Photo: Sam Tsang

Unfortunately, what has become apparent under this new system is the disproportionately low number of women candidates, and this is especially felt in the contest for the 10 geographical constituencies.

There are only seven women among the 35 candidates. That’s a dismal 20 per cent. And in four constituencies, it’s simply a men’s race.

One reason is that the long candidate lists are a thing of the past. Whatever qualms we may have against fielding hopeless “hopefuls”, it is clear now that these lists at least made it necessary to be mindful of gender representation: to have an entire list of only men looks bad.

Kowloon West, the one constituency that in 2016 returned six winners who were all women, will not return even one female lawmaker this time: it’s a three-way testosterone-only race.

Hong Kong politics: barriers must go if women are to lean in

As expected, there are also very few women standing for election in the functional constituencies, with just six out of the 68 candidates, once again exposing the structural hurdles women face across these sectors. Call it the political trickle-down effect of the male-dominated boardrooms.

Interestingly, the incumbent lawmaker of one of the commercial sectors, Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, a member of the Business and Professionals Alliance, is running against someone who works for the alliance’s council chairman.

This makes for an awkward situation, but it’s indicative of the stronghold of the old boys’ club. Beijing should read this as making a strong case for the need for diversity.

Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA