Hong Kong elections: middle-class voters desperate to make voice heard as prosperous areas see record turnouts of more than 80 per cent
- Government should pay extra attention to results in constituencies such as City One, a typically middle-class area, Civic Party leader says
- Sunday’s elections are first citywide polls since the unprecedented social unrest broke out in June
Among them was City One in Sha Tin where the Civic Party’s Leticia Wong Man-huen, a former journalist, ran against pro-establishment candidate Wong Ka-wing, who had served the constituency since 2007.
Some 81.3 cent of voters – 7,922 of 9,744 – had cast their ballots by the close of voting at 10.30pm.
Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, who had been canvassing for Wong, said the turnout in City One was significant.
“City One has been a stronghold of pan-democrats [in Legislative Council elections] but its voters have been represented by a pro-Beijing person on the district council for over 12 years,” Yeung said. “The government should pay extra attention as City One, being a typical middle-class district, reflects how the general middle class think.”
Former Civic Party member Ronny Tong Ka-wah, who quit the party and now sits on the Executive Council, contested the constituency in 2011 but was beaten by Wong by 1,478 votes.