View source for Reform Club of Hong Kong

{{Hatnote|This article is about the Reform Club in Hong Kong. For other uses, see [[Reform Club (disambiguation)]]}}
{{Use Hong Kong English|date=April 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Short description|One of oldest political organisations in Hong Kong}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Reform Club of Hong Kong
| native_name      = {{noitalics|{{nobold|香港革新會}}}}
| logo             = Logo of the Reform Club of Hong Kong.svg
| logo_size        = 200px
| colorcode        = {{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}
| country          = Hong Kong
| founder          = 
| leader1_title    = Chairman
| leader1_name     = [[Brook Bernacchi]]
| leader2_title    = 
| leader2_name     = 
| founded          = {{Start date|1949|1|20|df=yes}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Memorandum and articles of Association of the Reform Club of Hong Kong : incorporated the 20th day of January, 1949|author=Reform Club of Hong Kong|publisher=Ts'o & Hodgson|year=1949}}</ref>
| dissolved        = {{circa}} 1995
| merger           = 
| split            = 
| predecessor      = 
| merged           = 
| successor        = 
| ideology         = [[Liberalism]] ([[Liberalism in Hong Kong|HK]])
| affiliation1_title = {{nowrap|Regional affiliation}}
| affiliation1     = 
| religion         = 
| national         = 
| international    = 
| colors           = 
| website          = 
| footnotes        = 
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| order = 
| showflag = 
| t = 香港革新會
| j = Hoeng1 gong2 gaak3 san1 wui6
| y = Hēung góng gaak sān wuih
}}
{{Liberalism in China}}
The '''Reform Club of Hong Kong''' was one of the oldest [[political organisations]] in [[Hong Kong]], existing from 1949 until the mid-1990s. Established by expatriates who were concerned about the [[Young Plan (Hong Kong)|Young Plan]] proposed by [[Governor of Hong Kong|Governor]] [[Mark Aitchison Young]] in 1949, the Reform Club was the first semi-political party to contest in the [[Urban Council of Hong Kong|Urban Council]] elections, with its longtime chairman [[Brook Bernacchi]] serving on the Council for about forty years.

It demanded expansion of the power of the Urban Council and elected representatives in the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|Legislative Council]] for years. Together with the [[Hong Kong Civic Association]], they were the closest to [[opposition parties]] in Hong Kong active in the municipal electoral politics during the post-war colonial period. With the expansion of the franchise in the 1980s, the Reform Club gradually declined and was replaced by the more energetic political groups. The Club ceased to function after its chairman Bernacchi retired from the Urban Council in 1995.

==History==
The Reform Club was founded by [[expatriate]] [[barrister]] [[Brook Bernacchi]] in 1949 in the midst of the debate over the [[Young Plan (Hong Kong)|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]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Promoting Prosperity: The Hong Kong Way of Social Policy|first=Catherine M.|last=Jones|page=78|publisher=Chinese University Press|year=1990}}</ref> Unlike the [[Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association]], which was set up during the same time for similar causes, the Reform Club was dominated by expatriates.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Miners|first1=N. J.|date=1986|title=Plans for Constitutional Reform in Hong Kong, 1946-52|journal=[[The China Quarterly]]|language=en|volume=107|issue=|pages=473|issn=0305-7410|doi=10.1017/S0305741000039862|s2cid=154299156 }}</ref>

For decades the Reform Club and the [[Hong Kong Civic Association|Civic Association]] dominated municipal politics as they provided most of the elected members of the [[Urban Council of Hong Kong|Urban Council]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=King| first=Ambrose Yeo-chi |date= 1975 | title=Administrative Absorption of Politics in Hong Kong: Emphasis on the Grass Roots Level | journal=[[Asian Survey]] | volume= 15  | issue= 5 | pages=431| doi=10.2307/2643255| jstor=2643255 }}</ref> It advocated more representative government in the territory and the improvement of public sector social services. In 1960, the two groups formed a coalition and sent a delegate to London to demand direct elections to the Legislative Council. The Reform Club adopted a modest stance amid the [[Hong Kong 1966 riots|1966 riots]], opposing violent actions from both protesters and the police.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Klein|first1=Richard|date=1997|title=The Empire Strikes Back: Britain's Use of the Law to Suppress Political Dissent in Hong Kong|journal=[[Boston University International Law Journal]]|language=en|volume=15|issue=1|pages=31|issn=0737-8947}}</ref> 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 council of Hong Kong|district board]]s in the urban districts, which significantly extended the franchise.

Starting from the late 1960s, the Club's ability to monopolise Urban Council elections with the Civic Association eroded, in light of the emergence of the popular independent candidates.<ref>{{cite book|page=11|title=Understanding the Political Culture of Hong Kong: The Paradox of Activism and Depoliticization|first=Wai-man|last=Lam|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|year=2004}}</ref> Before the expansion of the franchise, the Reform Club had 15 members in the Urban Council of 1983. But the Reform Club's influence in the Urban Council reduced during the 1980s. Following the [[1989 Hong Kong municipal elections|1989 municipal elections]], only five Reform Club members remained due to its lack of grassroots support. The Reform Club and Civic Association were gradually supplanted by the new [[Pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong|pro-democracy groups]] including the [[Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood]] and [[Meeting Point]]. When at the [[1995 Hong Kong municipal elections|1995 municipal elections]] Brook Bernacchi retired, the Reform Club ceased to be active in the Hong Kong political scene.

==Notable members==
*[[Brook Bernacchi]] (founder)
*[[Alison Bell (politician)|Alison Bell]]
*[[Chan Shu-woon]]
*[[Elsie Elliott]] (later known as Elsie Tu)
*[[Henry Hu]]
*[[Kan Yuet Keung]]
*[[Charles Edgar Loseby]]
*[[Cecilia Yeung]]

==Election performance==
===Municipal elections===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-align=center
! Election
! Number of<br/>popular votes
! % of<br/>popular votes
! [[Urban Council of Hong Kong|UrbCo]]<br/>seats
! [[Regional Council of Hong Kong|RegCo]]<br/>seats
! Total<br/>elected seats
|-
! [[1952 Hong Kong municipal election|1952]]
| 2,199{{nochange}}
| 33.58{{nochange}}
| {{Composition bar|1|2|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| -
| rowspan=19|
|-
! [[1953 Hong Kong municipal election|1953]]
| 6,374{{increase}}
| 71.25{{increase}}
| {{Composition bar|4|4|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| -
|-
! [[1954 Hong Kong municipal election|1954]]
| 7,773{{increase}}
| 79.64{{increase}}
| {{Composition bar|4|4|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| -
|-
! [[1955 Hong Kong municipal election|1955]]
| 3,283{{decrease}}
| 89.62{{increase}}
| {{Composition bar|4|4|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| -
|-
! [[1956 Hong Kong municipal election|1956]]
| 17,085{{increase}}
| 56.97{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|6|8|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1957 Hong Kong municipal election|1957]]
| 11,716{{increase}}
| 43.50{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|5|8|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1959 Hong Kong municipal election|1959]]
| 12,030{{decrease}}
| 47.67{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|4|8|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1961 Hong Kong municipal election|1961]]
| ''uncontested''
| ''uncontested''
| {{Composition bar|4|8|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1963 Hong Kong municipal election|1963]]
| 5,177{{decrease}}
| 39.43{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|3|8|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1965 Hong Kong municipal election|1965]]
| ''unknown''
| ''unknown''
| {{Composition bar|5|10|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1967 Hong Kong municipal election|1967]]
| 9,789{{increase}}
| 24.90{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|4|10|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1969 Hong Kong municipal election|1969]]
| 16,571{{increase}}
| 49.22{{increase}}
| {{Composition bar|3|10|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1971 Hong Kong municipal election|1971]]
| 6,139{{decrease}}
| 16.22{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|3|10|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1973 Hong Kong municipal election|1973]]
| 25,709{{increase}}
| 55.14{{increase}}
| {{Composition bar|5|12|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1975 Hong Kong municipal election|1975]]
| 6,141{{increase}}
| 12.41{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|3|12|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1977 Hong Kong municipal election|1977]]
| 13,249{{decrease}}
| 41.05{{increase}}
| {{Composition bar|3|12|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1979 Hong Kong municipal election|1979]]
| 9,579{{increase}}
| 18.76{{increase}}
| {{Composition bar|3|12|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1981 Hong Kong municipal election|1981]]
| 7,291{{decrease}}
| 28.29{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|2|12|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1983 Hong Kong municipal election|1983]]
| 13,894{{increase}}
| 15.38{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|3|15|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| –
|-
! [[1986 Hong Kong municipal elections|1986]]
| 24,486{{increase}}
| 6.95{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|2|15|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| {{Composition bar|0|12|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| {{Composition bar|2|27|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
|-
! [[1989 Hong Kong municipal elections|1989]]
| 13,404{{decrease}}
| 6.31{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|2|15|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| {{Composition bar|0|12|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| {{Composition bar|2|27|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
|-
! [[1991 Hong Kong municipal elections|1991]]
| 9,045{{decrease}}
| 2.31{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|2|15|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| {{Composition bar|0|12|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| {{Composition bar|2|27|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
|-
|}

===District Board/Council elections===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-align=center
! Election
! Number of<br />popular votes
! % of<br />popular votes
! Total<br />elected seats
! +/−
|-
! [[1982 Hong Kong local elections|1982]]
| 13,644{{nochange}}
| 3.83{{nochange}}
| {{Composition bar|2|132|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| 
|-
! [[1985 Hong Kong local elections|1985]]
| 39,929{{increase}}
| 5.77{{increase}}
| {{Composition bar|17|237|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| 7{{increase}}
|-
! [[1988 Hong Kong local elections|1988]]
| 13,572{{decrease}}
| 2.13{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|5|264|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| 5{{decrease}}
|-
! [[1991 Hong Kong local elections|1991]]
| 2,136{{decrease}}
| 0.40{{decrease}}
| {{Composition bar|1|272|hex={{party color|Reform Club of Hong Kong}}}}
| 5{{decrease}}
|-
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/newspaper/index.jsp Hong Kong Newspaper Clippings Online]
{{Hong Kong political parties}}

[[Category:1949 establishments in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:1995 establishments in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Liberalism in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1995]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1949]]