Hong Kong’s largest political party won far fewer votes in Sunday’s battle for directly contested seats in the legislature compared with four years ago as its candidates grappled with tough races and public anger over the deadly fire in Tai Po.
While the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) retained all 10 of its geographical constituency seats, the party secured only 432,473 votes from residents, accounting for 34 per cent of the total, down by almost 250,000, or 36 per cent, from the 2021 election, when the party captured more than half.
The DAB was forced to contend with a backlash from the public after one of its members, district councillor Peggy Wong Pik-kiu, was found to have advised the owners’ corporation of Wang Fuk Court on its renovation project last year.
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At least 159 people were killed in the blaze that erupted at the residential complex on November 26 and rapidly engulfed seven of the estate’s eight towers, with the renovation materials now the focus of multiple investigations into one of the city’s deadliest fires.
The DAB suffered its heaviest loss in Sai Kung, where the party’s number of votes shrank by 70 per cent against four years ago, and in Yuen Long, where it dropped by 63 per cent.
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The DAB also suffered in its traditional strongholds.