New district council constituencies to get much bigger
Newly drawn geographical constituencies for future district council elections will see hundreds of thousands of people represented by just two councillors, according to plans released by the Electoral Affairs Commission on Tuesday. The more than 450 constituencies of the past will become 44 much larger constituencies, each with two councillors.  The vast majority of council members will be appointed by the government or government-appointed bodies. The largest number of constituents will be in newly created Wong Tai Sin West, which will cover a population of more than 218,500.   In the last polls in 2019, the area had 13 constituencies, with the biggest one covering 22,000 people. Kwun Tong, Yuen Long, and Sha Tin, which used to have dozens of geographical constituencies, are each now being divided into four areas for voting. Wan Chai and Islands districts, meanwhile, only have one constituency.  On top of the 88 councillors to be picked through direct elections, there will be 179 appointed by the government, 176 chosen by various committees and 27 ex-officio members.  No date has yet been set for the next elections.