2004 Democratic Party (HK) leadership election
The Central Committee was elected by the party congress. All public office holders, including the members of the Legislative Council and District Councils, are eligible to vote in the party congress. Every 30 members can also elect a delegate who holds one vote in the congress. Chairman Yeung Sum announced he would not seek for re-election after the party performed badly in the 2004 Hong Kong Legislative Council election in September. However, Albert Ho Chun-yan said he was not keen to run for the chairmanship because he was busy working for other organisations, such as the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, where he was the secretary. Chan King-ming, who was seen as a Reformist said a genuine contest for the leadership was necessary for the party's future. In the election on 12 December, Lee Wing-tat, the major figure in the mainstreamer faction defeated Chan King-ming from the Young Turks faction with 189 to 113 votes. Chan who was also a vice-chairman candidate and Albert Ho both got elected with 205 votes, higher than the third candidate Zachary Wong Wai-yin who only got 96 votes, being elected as the new two vice-chairmen. The elected members of the 6th Central Committee are listed as following:















1. Ng Kim-sing and Wong Chun-wai received the same number of votes so a by-election was held later, in which Ng was elected to the Central Committee.
Overview
It was the first contested chairmanship election in the party's history. Legislative Council member and party's Vice-Chairman Lee Wing-tat defeated the Chan King-ming, succeeding Yeung Sum as the chairman of the party.