Lee Wing-tat (; born 25 December 1955) is a former Member of the
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...
(LegCo), returned by direct election as representative of the
New Territories West
New Territories West (NTW) is the western part of Hong Kong's New Territories, covering Yuen Long District, Yuen Long, Tuen Mun District, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan District, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing District, Kwai Tsing and the Islands District.
History
...
constituency. He was the former third Chairman of the
Democratic Party (DP). He is seen as a conservative inside the party.
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
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...
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
The Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) is a Hong Kong pro-democracy social-liberal political party catering to grassroots interest with a strong basis in Sham Shui Po. Established on 26 October 1986, it was o ...
(ADPL). He was elected to the
District Council and the
Regional Council in 1985 and 1986 respectively. He was a founding member of the
.
In 1989, during the visit of
Geoffrey Howe
Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, (20 December 1926 – 9 October 2015), known from 1970 to 1992 as Sir Geoffrey Howe, was a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to ...
to Hong Kong, Lee protested at the conference and called Howe's speech "bullshit".
Lee left the ADPL and formed 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 ...
, 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.
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
The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...
''" of the party. In early 2006, someone alleged to the ''
Apple Daily
''Apple Daily'' ( zh, t=蘋果日報, j=ping4 gwo2 jat6 bou3) was a Chinese-language newspaper published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai and part of Next Media, ''Apple Daily'' was known for its sensational headlines, ...
'' 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.
[Cheers and jeers for political reform vote, ]SCMP
The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...
, Gary Cheung, Albert Wong and Fanny WY Fung, 25 June 2010
References
External links
Personal WebsiteFacebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Wing-Tat
1955 births
Living people
Alumni of St. Paul's College, Hong Kong
Alumni of the University of Hong Kong
District councillors of Kwai Tsing District
Members of the Regional Council of Hong Kong
Hong Kong people of Hakka descent
Indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories in Hong Kong
People from Huiyang
Leaders of political parties
Charter 08 signatories
Democratic Party (Hong Kong) politicians
Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood politicians
United Democrats of Hong Kong politicians
HK LegCo Members 1991–1995
HK LegCo Members 1995–1997
HK LegCo Members 1998–2000
HK LegCo Members 2004–2008
HK LegCo Members 2008–2012
Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee members