User:Cossaxx/Sandbox

Hong Kong politics

In 1985 Lau became a member of the Regional Council. He then joined the Liberal Party and the New Territories constituency.

In 1991 he was elected to LegCo, representing the Heung Yee Kuk functional constituency and held the seat (including as a member of the Provisional Legislative Council, 1996-97<--date needs confirming-->) until 2004.

In the 2004 Legislative Council elections, he stood for election in the 'District Councils' functional constituency and won, with the help of mainland and pro-government forces. The reason for the move was to ensure that the seat vacated by Ip Kwok-him, a member of the DAB (then called the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong), was taken by a pro-government member. Another rural leader took the kuk seat. A year later, Lau was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal, the highest honour the government can bestow on a member of the community.

There was then a further twist. So that Ip could run in the 2008 election in his former constituency (District Councils), Lau stood for and of course re-won the Heung Yee Kuk seat. It was shortly afterwards, in January 2009, that Lau was appointed to Exco, a predicted move that was seen as a reward for his cooperation.

Thus he is now a member of both Exco and Legco, as well chairman of the Kuk, and of Tuen Mun District Council, among his various other positions.

Lau's performance in Legco is considered one of the worst as he has not initiated a motion since 1998.

billionaire ninth term, from June '11