Reform Club of Hong Kong

This article is about the Reform Club in Hong Kong. For other uses, see Reform Club (disambiguation)

Reform Club of Hong Kong 香港革新會

Founder	Brook Bernacchi
Chairman	Brook Bernacchi
Founded	20 January 1949 (1949-01-20)^[1]
Dissolved	Around 1995
Ideology	Liberalism
Political position	Centre-left
Politics of Hong Kong Political parties Elections

The Reform Club of Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港革新會) was one of the oldest political groups in Hong Kong existed from 1949 until the mid-1990s. Together with the Civic Association, they were the closest to opposition parties in Hong Kong during the post-war colonial period.

History

The Reform Club was founded by expatriate barrister Brook Bernacchi in 1949 the midst of the debate over the Young Plan, a plan for wide constitutional reform in Hong Kong. The immediate target of the Club was to campaign for direct elections to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.^[2] Different from the Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association which was set up during the same time with the similar causes, the Reform Club was dominated by expatriates.

For decades the Reform Club and the Civic Association dominated the municipal politics as they provided most of the elected members of the Urban Council. It advocated more representative government in the territory and the improvement of public sector social services. In 1960, the two groups form a coalition and sent a delegate to London to demand for direct elections to the Legislative Council. In 1979, the Reform Club threatened to boycott elections if the Urban Council would not receive a majority of elected members and universal franchise was extended to all Hong Kong citizens. In 1982, it took part in the elections for the newly established district boards in the urban districts, which significantly extended the franchise.

Before the expansion of the franchise, the Reform Club had 15 members in the Urban Council 1983. But the Reform Club's influence in the Urban Council reduced during the 1980s. Following the 1989 municipal elections, there were only five Reform Club remained due to its lack of grassroots support. The Reform Club and Civic Association were gradually supplanted by the new pro-democracy groups including the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood and Meeting Point. When the 1995 municipal elections Brook Bernacchi retired, Reform Club ceased to be active in Hong Kong political scene.

Notable members

Election performance

Municipal elections

Election	Number of popular votes	% of popular votes	UrbCo seats	RegCo seats	Total elected seats
1952	2,199	33.58	1 / 2	-
1953	6,374	71.25	4 / 4	-
1954	7,773	79.64	4 / 4	-
1955	3,283	89.62	4 / 4	-
1956	17,085	56.97	6 / 8	–
1957	11,716	43.50	5 / 8	–
1959	12,030	47.67	4 / 8	–
1961	uncontested	uncontested	4 / 8	–
1963	5,177	39.43	3 / 8	–
1965	unknown	unknown	5 / 10	–
1967	9,789	24.90	4 / 10	–
1969	16,571	49.22	3 / 10	–
1971	6,139	16.22	3 / 10	–
1973	25,709	55.14	5 / 12	–
1975	6,141	12.41	3 / 12	–
1977	13,249	41.05	3 / 12	–
1979	9,579	18.76	3 / 12	–
1981	7,291	28.29	2 / 12	–
1983	13,894	15.38	3 / 15	–
1986	24,486	6.95	2 / 15	0 / 12	2 / 27
1989	13,404	6.31	2 / 15	0 / 12	2 / 27
1991	9,045	9.45	2 / 15	0 / 12	2 / 27

District Board/Council elections

Election	Number of popular votes	% of popular votes	Total elected seats	+/−
1982	13,644	3.83	2 / 132
1985	39,929	5.77	17 / 237	7
1988	13,572	2.13	5 / 264	5
1991	2,136	0.40	1 / 272	5

References

↑ Reform Club of Hong Kong (1949). Memorandum and articles of Association of the Reform Club of Hong Kong : incorporated the 20th day of January, 1949. Ts'o & Hodgson.
↑ Jones, Catherine M. (1990). Promoting Prosperity: The Hong Kong Way of Social Policy. Chinese University Press. p. 78.

External links

Hong Kong Newspaper Clippings Online

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