The chief secretary for administration is the second-highest government official in Hong Kong, right after the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. When the chief executive is on leave, the chief secretary for administration will act on their behalf. The chief secretary for administration heads the Government Secretariat, which oversees the administration of the Region to which all other ministers belong. The chief secretary for administration reports to the chief executive and to the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

. Under Article 53 of the Basic Law, the position is known as "Administrative Secretary". The chief secretary formulates and implements government

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an or ...

, gives advice to the Chief Executive as a member of the Executive Council, and is responsible for managing the Government's relationship with the Legislative Council and drawing up the Government's legislative programme. The office (“Department of Administration” per Article 60 of the Basic Law) also exercises certain statutory functions, such as the handling of appeals from designated public bodies. Prior to the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, the office was known simply as " Chief Secretary" (), and before 27 August 1976, "Colonial Secretary"(). Until the introduction of the Principal Officials Accountability System in 2002, the Chief Secretary was a

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

position, and in this capacity, the head of the public service. In 2005, Henry Tang became the first person who has not been a civil servant to be appointed to the office of the chief secretary. From the 1870s to 1902 the colonial secretary was the ''de facto'' lieutenant governor of Hong Kong which was once held by the commander of British Forces in Hong Kong before 1870s when the post was not lapsed from power. After 1902 the title disappeared from use as the second highest post was transferred to the colonial secretary and later, chief secretary.

List of chief secretaries of Hong Kong

Colonial secretaries, 1843–1941

Colonial secretaries, 1946–1976

Chief secretaries, 1976–1997

Chief secretaries for administration, 1997–present

Political party:

Residence

The Chief Secretary resides at an official residence at 15 Barker Road, The Peak, Hong Kong, which is also known as Victoria House and Victoria Flats.

References

;General * ;Specific

External links

Official website
{{Chief Secretary for Administration Chief Secretary