Hong Kong urged to adopt British ‘first-past-the-post’ election system to weed out more extreme candidates
British parliamentary leader Richard Graham says one person, one vote system would also make councillors more accountable to constituents
Hong Kong needs a British-style voting system which could weed out more extreme candidates, the head of a British parliamentary committee on China relations has told the South China Morning Post in an exclusive interview.
The system allows one candidate with the highest number of votes to be returned in a single-seat constituency. This was used in the 1995 Legco elections, when the Democratic Party won 12 out of 20 directly elected seats.
A proportional representation system was introduced in 1998 – the first polls held after the handover. Candidates are returned on the basis of a “quota”, with some being allocated according to the “largest remainder”. This means candidates – including some from fringe parties – can be returned with a low proportion of the vote. This voting structure has led to a more fragmented legislature.
The Conservative MP said he thought the Legco election framework was becoming a barrier to the executive and preventing Hong Kong from becoming a more dynamic city.
“I am elected by a first-past-the-post system and it is infinitely less complicated than proportional representation,” Graham said. “It means that fringe candidates very rarely succeed whereas under proportional representation, it is more possible for them to do so. Also you have a direct responsibility to your constituents.”