The Democratic Party leadership election was held on 6 December 2020 for the 14th Central Committee of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong, including chairperson and two vice-chairperson posts.
Incumbent vice-chairman Lo Kin-hei was elected as chairman uncontested with 231 confidence votes, while former member of Legislative Council Lam Cheuk-ting and Kwun Tong District Councillor Edith Leung beat Shatin District Councillor Sin Cheuk-nam to become new vice-chairpersons.
Electoral method
The Central Committee was elected by the party congress. All public office holders, including the members of the Legislative Council and District Councils, are eligible to vote in the party congress.[1] The eligibility of members electing a delegate who holds one vote in the congress was 5 members.[2] Candidate also needs a majority in order to claim victory.[3]
Overview
Lo Kin-hei, the incumbent vice-chairman of the party, was the only candidate for chairmanship election. Without other contestants, Lo was elected with an overwhelming of 231 votes, showing the party was highly confident with the new chairman.[4] Lo also became the youngest party chairperson and the first without prior experience in the Legislative Council.[5]
Election for vice-chairpersons was comparatively fierce with three candidates thriving for two seats. The three candidates were: Edith Leung from the young turks faction of the party; Lam Cheuk-ting, who just resigned from the Legislative Council; Sin Cheuk-nam, seen as Lam's apprentice.[4]
The average age for new Central Committee is also lower. Around 10 candidates among the 27 were running for the committee for the first time. Senior party figures including ex-chairman Lee Wing-tat and former Legislative Council member Helena Wong were not on the candidate list.[6]
^Kuan, Hsin-chi; Liu, Zhaojia; Wang, Jiaying, eds. (2002). Out of the Shadow of 1997?: The 2000 Legislative Council Election in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Chinese University Press. p. 156.
