Joseph Lai
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Joseph Lai Chi-keong (; born 13 December 1947) is a Hong Kong educator and politician. He is a former chairman of the
Eastern District Council The Eastern District Council is the district council for the Eastern District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Eastern District Council currently consists of 35 members, of which the district is divided into three constituenc ...
and former member of the Eastern District Council since 1988, having representing Fei Tsui from 1994 until 2021. He is member of the
Civic Party The Civic Party (CP) was a pro-democracy camp, pro-democracy liberalism in Hong Kong, liberal political party from March 2006 to May 2023 in Hong Kong. The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Article 45 Concern Group, Basic Law Ar ...
and a former member of the Democratic Party and
Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...
.


Biography

As a teacher, Lai joined the
Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union The Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) was a pro-democracy trade union, professional association and social concern group in Hong Kong. At the time of its disbandment in 2021, it was the largest teachers' organisation in Hong Ko ...
(HKPTU) in the 1980s. He ran in the 1988 District Board election in Chai Wan West. He was the founding member of the
United Democrats of Hong Kong The United Democrats of Hong Kong (; UDHK) was the first political party in Hong Kong. Founded in 1990, the short-lived party was the united front of the liberal democracy forces in preparation of the 1991 first ever direct election for the ...
and later Democratic Party. He contested in the 1995 Urban Council election in Quarry Bay and was elected with nearly 6,000 votes. He remained as
Eastern District Council The Eastern District Council is the district council for the Eastern District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Eastern District Council currently consists of 35 members, of which the district is divided into three constituenc ...
lor after 1997. In
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
and 2004 Legislative Council elections, he ran on the Democratic Party's ticket, placing the fourth place and the third place respectively. In 2004, he as the third candidate on the list was nearly elected, being defeated by
Choy So-yuk Choy So-yuk, BBS, JP (, born 10 October 1950) is a Hong Kong politician. She was an elected member of Eastern District Council and a Hong Kong Deputy of the National People’s Congress. From 1997 to 2008 she was a member of the Legislative ...
, the second candidate of the
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) is a pro-Beijing political party registered since 1992 in Hong Kong. Chaired by Gary Chan and holding 19 Legislative Council seats, it is currently the largest party ...
(DAB) by a narrow margin. Lai was eager to run in the 2000 Hong Kong Island by-election, but was rejected by the party and the leadership decided to support barrister
Audrey Eu Audrey Eu Yuet-mee is a Hong Kong lawyer and politician who represented Hong Kong Island in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 2000 to 2012. Eu was the founding leader of the Civic Party and was a member of the party's executive commit ...
's candidate. In the 2008 Legislative Council election, Lai quit the Democratic Party after he was not nominated by the party and ran as independent. He failed to be elected with only 3,955 votes, 1.26 per cent of the total vote share. After the election, he joined Audrey Eu's
Civic Party The Civic Party (CP) was a pro-democracy camp, pro-democracy liberalism in Hong Kong, liberal political party from March 2006 to May 2023 in Hong Kong. The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Article 45 Concern Group, Basic Law Ar ...
. Lai was tipped for running in the
District Council (Second) The District Council (Second) functional constituency () was a functional constituency in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong which was created in the 2012 constitutional reform package. It was the largest functional constitu ...
functional constituency A functional constituency is an electoral device (a non-geographical constituency) used within the political systems of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China: * Functional constituency in Hong Kong * Indirectly el ...
for the Civic Party in the 2012 Legislative Council election but did not materialise. In the 2019 District Council election after the pro-democrats received the largest landslide in history and seized the control of the 17 of the 18 District Councils, Lai was elected as the chairman of the Eastern District Council.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lai, Joseph Chi-keong 1947 births Living people Hong Kong educators Members of the Urban Council of Hong Kong District councillors of Eastern District United Democrats of Hong Kong politicians Democratic Party (Hong Kong) politicians Civic Party politicians Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2017–2021