Lee Wing-tat

Lee Wing-tat (Chinese: 李永達; born 25 December 1955) is a former Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), returned by direct election as representative of the New Territories West constituency. He was the former third Chairman of the Democratic Party (DP). He is seen as a conservative inside the party.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lee.
Lee Wing-tat
李永達
Lee in 2015
Chairman of the Democratic Party
In office
12 December 2004 – 17 December 2006
Preceded byYeung Sum
Succeeded byAlbert Ho
Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
In office
9 October 1991 – 31 July 1995
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
ConstituencyNew Territories South
In office
11 October 1995 – 30 June 1997
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byReplaced by Provisional Legislative Council
ConstituencyNew Territories South-west
In office
1 July 1998 – 30 June 2000
Preceded byNew parliament
Succeeded byAlbert Chan
ConstituencyNew Territories West
In office
1 October 2004 – 30 September 2012
Preceded byNew seat
Succeeded byMichael Tien
ConstituencyNew Territories West
Personal details
Born (1955-12-25) 25 December 1955
Hong Kong
NationalityChinese
Political partyAssociation for Democracy and People's Livelihood (1986–1990)
United Democrats (1990–94)
Democratic Party (1994–2022)
SpouseJosephine Chan Shu-ying
Alma materSt. Paul's College
University of Hong Kong
OccupationPolitician
Lee Wing-tat
Traditional Chinese李永達
Simplified Chinese李永达

Early life

A Hakka, Lee was elected vice-chairman of the Hong Kong University Students' Union in 1979. He graduated from the Faculty of Science of the University of Hong Kong with a pass. He first participated in politics in the 1980s and was the vice-chairman of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL). He was elected to the District Council and the Regional Council in 1985 and 1986 respectively. He was a founding member of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

In 1989, during the visit of Geoffrey Howe to Hong Kong, Lee protested at the conference and called Howe's speech "bullshit".[1]

Lee left the ADPL and formed the United Democrats of Hong Kong, which developed into the Democratic Party in 1994. He was elected to the Legco in the same year. He once lost his seat in the 2000 election but was re-elected in 2004. He was vice-chairman of Democratic Party from 2002 to 2004 and was elected chairman at the sixth AGM of the DP in succession to Yeung Sum. His challenger for the Chairman's post, Chan King-ming, was elected vice-chairman instead.[2]

Chairmanship of Democratic Party

Chief Executive Election

In May 2005, Lee declared his intention to run in the Hong Kong Chief Executive Election, but only received 52 nominations and thus failed to get on the ballot. As a result, he withdrew from the election on 15 June. His participation in the election faced great criticisms within the party and the pro-democracy camp.

Criticisms

Lee was criticized for suppressing the second-tier members and "Young Turks" of the party. In early 2006, someone alleged to the Apple Daily that some senior members were involved in spying activities of China. The "suspects" were all Young Turks and included vice-chairman Chan King Ming and Gary Fan. The Young Turks later held a press conference to criticise the list of "suspects", with some even directly naming Lee as responsible.

Departure

Lee did not seek a second term as party chairman in the party's internal elections in December 2006.

Views, policy positions and Legco voting

In June 2010, he voted with the party in favour of the government's 2012 constitutional reform package, which included the late amendment by the Democratic Party – accepted by the Beijing government – to hold a popular vote for five new District Council functional constituencies.[3]

References
  1. Elliott, John (4 July 1989). "Hong Kong vents anger over UK refusal on passports" (PDF). Financial Times: Europe's Business Newspaper. p. 1. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  2. "Hong Kong Democrats name new leader". NewsBank. RTHK. 12 December 2004. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  3. Cheers and jeers for political reform vote, SCMP, Gary Cheung, Albert Wong and Fanny WY Fung, 25 June 2010
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