Bernard Chan set to be convenor of Hong Kong chief executive-elect Carrie Lam’s cabinet
Source tells the Post Chan is set to lead Executive Council, while HSBC executive Peter Wong Tung-shun could be finance minister
Chief executive-elect Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is set to appoint her election campaign head Bernard Chan as the convenor of her cabinet, the Post has learned.
It was also understood that Peter Wong Tung-shun, deputy chairman and chief executive of HSBC, had been identified as a potential candidate for the post of financial secretary.
Lam is putting together her cabinet after being elected as the city’s leader on Sunday. A source said she had chosen Chan, who is a member of the current Executive Council, as convenor of the core policy-making body.
Chan has worked with all three chief executives since the handover – Tung Chee-hwa, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Leung Chun-ying. He first joined Exco in 2004 and was appointed again in 2012.
He told the Post earlier he would not consider a job as a minister, but did not rule out the possibility of staying with Exco.
Chan had a close working relationship with Lam when she was development minister from 2007 to 2012, and he took on key public posts relating to heritage conservation and sustainable development. He is seen as a potential future chief executive.
Chan said Lam had recently been too busy with the election and its aftermath to discuss any appointments.