Compared with the party's success rate of just 30 per cent in 2003, 65 per cent of the DAB's 177 candidates were victorious in Sunday's election, which drew 1,148,815 voters, a turnout of 38.83 per cent.

More than 90 per cent of the DAB's incumbent councillors were re-elected, while 70 per cent of those ousted in 2003 regained their seats.

In contrast, the Democratic Party secured 59 seats, 36 fewer than in 2003. Twenty-three of the party's incumbent councillors were ousted, including some veteran members. Just over half of the Democrats' 108 candidates were elected, including 14 new faces and 45 incumbents.

Analysts attributed the pan-democrats' crushing defeat to the DAB's strong electioneering machinery and an upturn in social sentiment.

Li Pang-kwong, of Lingnan University, said the pan-democrats had not consolidated their district work following their previous victory.

The DAB and its allies were dealt a severe blow in the 2003 election amid the social and political grievances that spurred half a million people to take to the streets on July 1 that year.

DAB chairman Tam Yiu-chung said this year's sweeping electoral success reflected the changing social sentiment and the party's work in the constituencies. He said the party remained dedicated to serving the community despite its crushing defeat four years ago.

'People want harmony and stability. That concurs with our vision,' he said.

Mr Tam would not be drawn on whether the victory would ease Beijing's worries over the implementation of universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

He believed the good results would help the party's campaign in next year's Legislative Council elections. 'A solid district base always has positive impact on Legco elections.'

The Democrats' allies, the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats, who fielded a total of 72 candidates in their debut district council election, managed to scrape eight and six seats respectively.

Only 108 of the 295 pan-democrat hopefuls were victorious, a success rate of just 37 per cent.

Admitting the democrats had suffered a serious defeat in the polls, Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan said he was overwhelmed by the DAB's canvassing strength.

'DAB is just formidable and the votes they got are simply alarming. We have to admit that our results are unsatisfactory,' he said. 'We need to do a lot of soul-searching and improve our strategy in future.'

Mr Ho offered to resign as leader of the party, but was persuaded to stay on. But the party accepted Lee Wing-tat's resignation as chief electoral strategist.

Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood chairman Frederick Fung Kin-kee also offered to step down after the number of seats the group holds was reduced from 25 to 17. The veteran lawmaker managed to keep his Sham Shui Po seat by a margin of about 80 votes.

The Liberal Party fielded 56 candidates and won 14 seats, a success rate of 25 per cent. Party leader James Tien Pei-chun conceded that the result was 'barely satisfactory'.