Pro-democracy candidate Alvin Yeung wins hotly contested Hong Kong by-election, while localist Edward Leung has credible showing with 15pc of vote

Civic Party barrister and pan-democrat Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu has won the hotly fought Legislative Council New Territories East by-election to retain the seat left vacant by Ronny Tong Ka-wah, who quit the party and the legislature last year.

Out of some 434,000 ballots, Yeung won 160,880 votes. His arch-rival, Holden Chow Ho-ding from the Beijing-loyalist Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, got 150,329 votes. Localist candidate Edward Leung Tin-kei, from Hong Kong Indigenous, received 66,524 votes.

Yeung said: “I am very lucky and grateful to have won this election, and [to have run against] Edward Leung, who is an opponent I respect.”

“I think this election reflected that the people wanted the pan-democrats, the Civic Party and the legislature to reform. I also understand that some people voted for me not because they completely agreed with what the party and I did, but because they don’t want the seat to go into the hands of the pro-establishment camp. I will reflect on what I haven’t done well enough,” he added.

Hong Kong Indigenous candidate Leung said that although he was not satisfied with the 66,000 votes he got, he believed the result was a warning to the government that “the people are not afraid of it, but instead it should fear the people”.

“The localists will get ready for the September election, and I think from then on, the three blocs – pan-democrats, localists and pro-establishment – should stand neck to neck,” Leung added.