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The Senior Unofficial Member, later Senior Member and, finally, Convenor of the Non-official Members, was the highest-ranking
unofficial member Unofficial Member is the name given to individuals who are members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and Legislative Council of Hong Kong but who are not members of the Hong Kong Government. The terms "Unofficial" (or "non-official") and ...
of 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 ...
(LegCo) and Executive Council (ExCo) of
British Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British Empire, British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 ...
, which was tasked with representing the opinions of all unofficial members of the council to the
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
. Ethnic Chinese members of either council were frequently referred to as "Chinese representatives" of the council before the introduction of elected seats in the LegCo; the most senior ethnic Chinese member was dubbed the " Senior Chinese Unofficial Member" () or "Senior Chinese Representative".


Background

The Executive Council and the Legislative Council were set up in 1843, initially composing of colonial administrators only. The councils were initially chaired by the
Governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the United Kingdom, British The Crown, Crown in British Hong Kong, Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, Executiv ...
. The colony's residents remained unrepresented until 1850, when the government appointed two businessmen to the LegCo, with David Jardine of Jardines as the first Senior Unofficial Member of the LegCo in the history of Hong Kong. It was not until 1896, on his appointment to ExCo, that Catchick Paul Chater became the Senior Unofficial Member. Historically, ExCo Senior Unofficial Member importance greatly exceeded that of the LegCo counterpart, thus their term of office were longer. Before the Second World War, there were only three Senior Unofficial Members in ExCo, whereas there have been four LegCo Senior Unofficial Members. Initially, membership was restricted to Europeans; ethnic Chinese were admitted at a later date. The first ethnic Chinese to be appointed LegCo Senior Unofficial Member was Ho Kai, who held the post from 1906 to 1914. The first ethnic Chinese to be appointed ExCo Senior Unofficial Member was Chau Tsun-nin, who held the post from 1953 to 1959. Prior to Chau Tsun-nin, Chow Shouson was also ExCo Senior Unofficial Member when he stood in for three months following Henry Pollock. Senior Unofficial Members of the ExCo would customarily be knighted if they were not already knights, although their LegCo counterparts would not. Pre-WWII ExCo and LegCo Senior Unofficial Member typically served renewable four- to five-year terms. Their seniority implied they would not remain as ordinary Legco/Exco members at the end of their terms, but would leave the council on expiry. In 1985,
indirect election An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...
s were introduced for the Legislative Council. To avoid confusion, Sir Edward Youde, the then-Governor, renamed the post Senior Unofficial Member in both councils "Senior Member". The introduction in 1991 of
direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they want to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen ...
s to the LegCo more than doubled the number of its members. The directly elected members refused to take orders from the Senior Member. The Senior Member at the time, Allen Lee, was unable to represent the council with a single voice and would occasionally have run-ins with the directly elected members. In 1992, Governor David Wilson abolished the LegCo post of Senior Member. In 1995, Governor Chris Patten renamed the ExCo post of Senior Member "Convenor of the Non-official Members". During colonial times, the
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 ...
also had a post entitled "Senior Unofficial Member", with a similar role. However, its importance was considerably less than its ExCo and LegCo counterparts.


Statistical overview

In total there have been 26 and 11 Senior Unofficial Members respectively of LegCo and ExCo. Of these, six have served as Senior Unofficial Members in both councils: Catchick Paul Chater, Sir Henry Pollock, Chau Tsun-nin, Kan Yuet-keung, Chung Sze-yuen and Lydia Dunn. The longest serving Senior Unofficial Members of LegCo were Sir Henry Pollock and Phineas Ryrie, who sat for 24 and 22 years respectively; the three who served the shortest duration were George Lyall, John Dent and Kwok Chan, who sat for one year. Lydia Dunn was the only female; Dhun Jehangir Ruttonjee was the only Parsee; Roger Lobo was the only Portuguese. The longest serving Senior Unofficial Members of ExCo was Catchick Paul Chater, who served a total of 30 years; the shortest tenures was Sir Sidney Gordon, serving under one year. Lydia Dunn was the first female ExCo Senior Unofficial Member. Chater was the only Senior Unofficial Member to die in office; Chau Tsun-nin and Chau Sik-nin were the only Senior Unofficial Members drawn from the same clan.


Executive Council


Legislative Council


Notes


See also

* Executive Council of Hong Kong *
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 ...
* Senior Chinese Unofficial Member *
Unofficial Member Unofficial Member is the name given to individuals who are members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and Legislative Council of Hong Kong but who are not members of the Hong Kong Government. The terms "Unofficial" (or "non-official") and ...
* Father of the House


References

*
Hong Kong Government Gazette
', Hong Kong: GOVERNMENT OF HONG KONG, 1852–1941. *

', Hong Kong: HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, 1884–1992. * 〈港府昨正式發表行政局議員名單〉,《工商日報》, p. 4, 8 May 1946. * 〈行政局議員已全部委出〉,《工商日報》p. 4, 30 May 1946. * ''Hong Kong Government Gazette'', Hong Kong: GOVERNMENT OF HONG KONG, 1951–1959. * ''Hong Kong Annual Report'', Hong Kong: Government Press, 1951–1969. * Endacott, G. B., ''Government and people in Hong Kong, 1841–1962: A Constitutional History'', Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1964. * 鄭棟材,
CHINESE UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE COUNCILS IN HONG KONG UP TO 1941
', 29 April 1968. * 鍾士元,《香港回歸歷程-鍾士元回憶錄》,香港:中文大學出版社,2001. * Li, Simon,
FACT SHEET-"THE FIRST" in Legislative Council History
', Hong Kong: HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, 13 January 2003. {{refend


External links


CHINESE UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE COUNCILS IN HONG KONG UP TO 1941
British rule in Hong Kong History of Hong Kong Legislative Council of Hong Kong Executive Council of Hong Kong Senior legislators