Boundary of New Territories West constituency from 1998 to 2021, also the mostly-recognised boundary of the region

New Territories West (NTW) is the western part of Hong Kong's New Territories, covering Yuen Long, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing and the Islands District.

History

Settlements in the area, except the Islands District, have been connected by the Castle Peak Road since its completion in the 1920s, which also links Kowloon and facilitates trading.

In 1985, "West New Territories" and "South New Territories" electoral-college constituencies were created. West New Territories consisted of Yuen Long District and Tuen Mun District, while South New Territories consisted of Tsuen Wan District, Islands District and Sai Kung District. The electoral colleges lasted for two terms until they were replaced by the geographical constituencies in 1991 when the first direct election to the Legislative Council were introduced.[1]

In the 1991 election, the directly elected "New Territories West" and "New Territories South" constituencies were created, each returning two members to the Legislative Council using the two-seat constituency two vote system. New Territories West continued to consist of Yuen Long and Tuen Mun Districts, while New Territories South consisted of Tsuen Wan, Islands and Kwai Tsing Districts. The pro-democracy coalition of the United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) and Meeting Point won three of the four seats, with one of the seats in New Territories West taken by Tai Chin-wah with a strong rural background. Tai was soon founded guilty of fraud and the vacancy was taken up by Zachary Wong of the Meeting Point. Another by-election was held in New Territories West after Ng Ming-yum of the Meeting Point died of cancer, of which Tang Siu-tong who had the rural support was elected.

The electoral system was overhauled after one term, replaced by the single-constituency single-vote system in the 1995 Legislative Council election with five new constituencies, namely "New Territories North-west", "New Territories West", "New Territories Central", "New Territories South-west" and "New Territories South". All five seats were taken by the Democratic Party, merger of the United Democrats and Meeting Point.[2]

Following the handover in 1997, the "New Territories West" constituency replaced the colonial constituencies. It remained in place until 2021 under the change of electoral system, "New Territories North", "New Territories North West", and "New Territories South West" were installed as the new constituencies. The Islands District was redistributed to Hong Kong Island West constituency for the first time.[3]

Evolution

Years \ Districts Yuen Long Tuen Mun Tsuen Wan Kwai Tsing Islands
Northern
part 		Southern
part 		NW part SE part NW part SE part Northern
part 		Southern
part
1985–1991 West New Territories South New Territories
1991–1995 New Territories West New Territories South
1995–1997 New Territories North New Territories North-west New Territories West New Territories Central New Territories South New Territories South-west
1998–2021 New Territories West
2021–present New Territories North New Territories West New Territories South West Hong Kong Island West

References

  1. ^ 雷, 競璇; 沈, 國祥 (1995). "香港選舉資料匯編, 1982年-1994年". 硏究叢刊 (19). 香港: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies.
  2. ^ 殷, 俊; 馬, 春暖 (2018). "香港立法會直選制度變革與政黨體系之演變". 中國大陸研究. 61 (3): 033–052.
  3. ^ "A Layman's Guide to the Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendments) Bill 2021" (PDF). Hong Kong Government.
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