Chief Secretary for Administration

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Secretary for Administration 香港特別行政區政務司司長
Emblem of Hong Kong
Incumbent The Hon Matthew Cheung since 16 January 2017
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Government Secretariat Executive Council
Reports to	Legislative Council
Residence	Victoria House, 15 Barker Road, The Peak
Appointer	State Council of the People's Republic of China nomination by Chief Executive
Term length	No longer than the Chief Executive's remaining term (No constitutional or statutory limits, but no CS would receive employment contract longer than the CE's remaining term since POAS was in place in 2002.)
Inaugural holder	Anson Chan
Formation	1 July 1997
Website	CSO

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The Chief Secretary for Administration (Chinese: 政務司司長), commonly known as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, is the most senior principal official of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Chief Secretary is the head of the Government Secretariat which oversees the administration of the Region to which all other ministers belong, and is accountable for his or her policies and actions to the Chief Executive and to the Legislative Council. Under Article 53 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the position is known as "Administrative Secretary".

The Chief Secretary formulates and implements government policy, gives advice to the Chief Executive as a member of the Executive Council, and is responsible for managing the Government's relationship with the Legislative Council and drawing up the Government's legislative programme. The office also exercises certain statutory functions, such as the handling of appeals from designated public bodies.^[1]

Prior to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, the office was known simply as "Chief Secretary" (Chinese: 布政司; Cantonese Yale: Boujingsī), and before 1976, "Colonial Secretary" (Chinese: 輔政司; Cantonese Yale: Fuhjingsī).^[2] Until the introduction of the Principal Officials Accountability System in 2002, the Chief Secretary was a civil service position, and in this capacity, the head of the public service. In 2005, Henry Tang became the first person who has not been a civil servant to be appointed to the office of the Chief Secretary.

List of Secretaries

From the 1870s to 1902 the Colonial Secretary was de facto Lieutenant Governor of Hong Kong. The role was once held by the Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong. After 1902 the title disappeared from use as the second highest post was transferred to the Colonial Secretary and late Chief Secretary.

Colonial Secretaries, 1843–1941

№	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Governor	Ref
1		George Alexander Malcolm 馬儒翰	26 June 1843	29 August 1843	Sir Henry Pottinger (1843–1844)
2		Sir Frederick Wright-Bruce 卜魯斯	9 February 1843	1846		[3]
					Sir John Francis Davis (1843–1848)
3		William Caine 堅	3 September 1846	12 April 1854		[4]
					Sir George Bonham (1848–1854)
4		William Thomas Mercer 孖沙	13 April 1854	14 May 1868	Sir John Bowring (1854–1859)	[5]
					Sir Hercules Robinson (1859–1865)
					Sir Richard MacDonnell (1866–1872)
5		John Gardiner Austin 柯士甸	7 May 1868	4 April 1878		[6]
					Sir Arthur Kennedy (1872–1877)
					Sir John Pope Hennessy (1877–1882)
6		William Henry Marsh 馬師	3 January 1879	10 June 1887
					Sir George Bowen (1883–1885)
7		Frederick Stewart 史釗域	5 October 1887	6 October 1889	Sir William Des Voeux (1887–1891)
8		Francis Fleming 菲林明	17 January 1890	26 February 1892
					Sir William Robinson (1891–1898)
9		G. T. M. O'Brien 柯布連	11 March 1892	30 April 1895
10		Sir Stewart Lockhart 駱克	26 March 1895	23 April 1902
					Sir Henry Arthur Blake (1898–1903)
11		Sir Francis Henry May 梅含理	14 May 1902	30 April 1911		[7][8]
					Sir Matthew Nathan (1904–1907)
					Sir Frederick Lugard (1907–1912)
12		Warren Delabere Barnes 班士	7 June 1911	28 October 1911		[9]
13		Sir Claud Severn 施勳	22 February 1912	14 November 1925
					Sir Francis Henry May (1912–1918)
					Sir Reginald Stubbs (1919–1925)
14		Sir Thomas Southorn 修頓	1 May 1925	23 March 1936	Sir Cecil Clementi (1925–1930)
					Sir William Peel (1930–1935)
					Sir Andrew Caldecott (1935–1937)
15		Norman Lockhart Smith 史美	26 November 1936	8 December 1941
					Sir Geoffry Northcote (1937–1941)
					Mark Aitchison Young (1941)
16		Sir Franklin Gimson 詹遜	8 December 1941	25 December 1941

Colonial Secretaries, 1946–1976

№	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Duration	Governor	Ref
17		David Mercer MacDougall 麥道高	1 May 1946	11 May 1949	7003107500000000000♠2 years, 344 days	Sir Mark Aitchison Young (1946–1947)
						Sir Alexander Grantham (1947–1957)
18		John Fearns Nicoll 列誥	25 May 1949	23 January 1952	7002973000000000000♠2 years, 243 days
19		Sir Robert Brown Black 柏立基	20 February 1952	30 March 1955	7003113400000000000♠3 years, 38 days
20		Edgeworth Beresford David 戴維德	4 May 1955	25 January 1959	7003136200000000000♠3 years, 266 days
						Sir Robert Brown Black (1958–1964)
21		Claude Bramall Burgess 白嘉時	9 December 1959	27 February 1963	7003117600000000000♠3 years, 80 days
22		Edmund Brinsley Teesdale 戴斯德	18 March 1963	25 March 1965	7002738000000000000♠2 years, 7 days
						Sir David Trench (1964–1971)
23		Michael Gass 祈濟時	15 September 1965	22 January 1969	7003122500000000000♠3 years, 129 days
24		Sir Hugh Norman-Walker 羅樂民	9 April 1969	1 August 1973	17003157500000000000♠4 years, 114 days
						Sir Murray MacLehose (1971–1982)
25		Sir Denys Roberts 羅弼時	17 October 1973	7 July 1976	7002994000000000000♠2 years, 264 days

Chief Secretaries, 1976–1997

№	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Duration	Governor	Ref
1		Sir Denys Roberts 羅弼時	6 October 1976	13 April 1978	7002554000000000000♠1 year, 189 days	Sir Murray MacLehose (1971–1982)
2		Sir Jack Cater 姬達	11 October 1978	11 November 1981	7003112700000000000♠3 years, 31 days
3		Sir Philip Haddon-Cave 夏鼎基	25 November 1981	7 June 1985	7003129000000000000♠3 years, 194 days
						Sir Edward Youde (1982–1986)
4		Sir David Akers-Jones 鍾逸傑	12 June 1985	10 December 1986	7002546000000000000♠1 year, 181 days
5		Sir David Robert Ford 霍德	10 December 1986	28 November 1993	7003254500000000000♠6 years, 353 days	Sir David Wilson (1987–1992)
						Chris Patten (1992–1997)
6		Anson Chan 陳方安生	29 November 1993	30 June 1997	7003130900000000000♠3 years, 213 days

Chief Secretaries for Administration, 1997–present

Political party:   Nonpartisan

№	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Duration	Chief Executive	Term	Ref
1		Anson Chan Fang On-sang 陳方安生	1 July 1997	30 April 2001	7003139900000000000♠3 years, 303 days	Tung Chee-hwa (1997–2005)	1
2		Donald Tsang Yam-kuen 曾蔭權	1 May 2001	31 May 2005[n 1]	7003149100000000000♠4 years, 30 days
							2
3		Rafael Hui Si-yan 許仕仁	30 June 2005	30 June 2007	7002729000000000000♠1 year, 364 days	Donald Tsang (2005–2012)	2
4		Henry Tang Ying-yen 唐英年	1 July 2007	30 September 2011[n 2]	7003155100000000000♠4 years, 90 days		3
5		Stephen Lam Sui-lung 林瑞麟	30 September 2011	30 June 2012	7002274000000000000♠274 days
6		Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor 林鄭月娥	1 July 2012	16 January 2017[n 3]	7003166000000000000♠4 years, 199 days	Leung Chun-ying (2012–2017)	4
7		Matthew Cheung Kin-chung 張建宗	16 January 2017	Incumbent	7002211000000000000♠211 days
						Carrie Lam (2017–present)	5

Residence

Victoria House, 15 Barker Road, Hong Kong.

The Chief Secretary resides at an official residence at 15 Barker Road, The Peak, Hong Kong, which is also known as Victoria House and Victoria Flats.

See also

• Hong Kong Government
• Government departments and agencies in Hong Kong
• Secretary for Justice (Hong Kong)
• Financial Secretary (Hong Kong)
• Secretary for Education and Manpower
• Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
• Lieutenant Governor of Hong Kong - second in command from 1843 to 1870s

References

General

• Choa, Gerald H. (2000). "Appendix II: Colonial Secretaries of Hong Kong, 1843–1912". The Life and Times of Sir Kai Ho Kai: A Prominent Figure in Nineteenth-Century Hong Kong (2nd ed.). Hong Kong: Chinese University Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-962-201-873-0. OCLC 44267286. 

Specific

External links

• Official website
• Organisation chart of Hong Kong Government

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