The establishment of the Civic Party has generated considerable discussion on the relationship between political parties and various social classes. An important function of parties in general is to speak for the interests of different social strata, proposing political platforms that reflect their concerns. Once a party has secured power, it is expected to implement those programmes.
Some fringe parties have single-issue platforms focused, for example, on the legalisation of marijuana or abortion. But parties normally want to become the government. In a democracy, this means they must win the support of a majority of voters. Therefore they need to have a wide political appeal.
From the end of the second world war until the early 1970s, class consciousness remained strong among British voters. The two major parties, Conservative and Labour, alternated as the governing party. The former claimed to represent the business and middle classes; the latter, the working class.
But about half the voters who supported the Conservatives were working class. Without the support of a substantial segment of these people, the party could not hope to win a general election.
Labour Party voters were mainly working class. But the majority of the party's executives and members of Parliament were professionals. Labour Party voters did not believe that only representatives from the blue-collar sector could defend their interests.
If we had genuine democratic elections in Hong Kong, the business community would definitely participate in political parties to pursue its interests.
Most Hongkongers do not have a strong class consciousness. Opinion surveys conducted since the 1980s all indicate that about 70 per cent of citizens usually identify themselves as members of the middle class. They may further classify themselves as members of the upper-middle, middle-middle or lower-middle classes.