Ip's party to field 10 candidates in first election test

The New People's Party will field 10 members in the upcoming district council race, the first election since it was established in January.

The candidates - two retired civil servants, a sitting district councillor, businessmen and professionals - will contest New Territories West, Hong Kong Island and Kowloon East.

Although party chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee will not run in November, vice-chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun said he was still considering fighting for a seat in Tsuen Wan. Ip said the party hoped to draw votes from civil servants and professionals who have not taken part in the past.

'How many seats we take in the district council election will not be a key indicator of how well we have done in the election,' she said. 'We are more concerned about the number of votes, and that will help us prepare for the Legislative Council election next year.'

David Wong Chor-fung is the party's only sitting district councillor. He is expected to face challenges from pan-democrats including Democratic Party vice-chairman Sin Chung-kai and a candidate from People Power.

Wong said he had been serving in the district for a few years and would not be afraid of challengers who had not served in the community. Wong won his Tai Hang seat in 2007.

Tony Liu Kit-ming, a retired policeman and former chairman of the Police Inspectors' Association, said he was running to give a voice to civil servants. 'Civil servants will feel if no one speaks out to balance the negative comments, they can only silently submit to all the attacks,' he said.

The Beijing-friendly Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong will deploy 181 candidates. The party's chairman, Tam Yiu-chung, said they would inevitably face competition from other pro-government parties in some constituencies.

A spokesman for the Federation of Trade Unions said it would have 48 candidates running.