Background
The Executive Council of Hong Kong and Legislative Council of Hong Kong were set up in 1843 composed of colonial administrators. The councils were initially chaired by the Governor of Hong Kong.The colony's subjects remained unrepresented until 1850, when the government appointed two businessmen to Legco, which included David Jardine of Jardines as the first Senior Unofficial Member to LegCo in the history of Hong Kong。It was not until 1896, on his appointment to ExCo that Catchick Paul Chater became the Senior Unofficial Member there.
Historically, ExCo Senior Unofficial Member importance greatly exceeded that of the LegCo counterpart, thus their term of office were longer. Before the Second World War, there have been only three Senior Unofficial Members in ExCo, whereas there have been four LegCo Senior Unofficial Members.Initially, membership was restricted to foreigners, ethnic Chinese were admitted at a later date. The first ethnic Chinese to be appointed LegCo Senior Unofficial Member was Ho Kai, who held the post from 1906 to 1914. The first ethnic Chinese to be appointed ExCo Senior Unofficial Member was Chau Tsun-nin, who held the post from 1953 to 1959.Prior to Chau Tsun-nin, Chow Shouson was also ExCo Senior Unofficial Member when he stood in for three months following Henry Pollock.
The ExCo Senior Unofficial Member would customarily receive knighthoods, although their LegCo counterparts would not.Pre-war ExCo and LegCo Senior Unofficial Member typically served four to five-year terms, renewable. Their seniority implied they would not remain as ordinary Legco/Exco members at the end of their terms, but would leave the council on expiry.
In 1985, indirect elections were introduced for the Legislative Council. To avoid confusion, Sir Edward Youde renamed ExCo and LegCo Senior Unofficial Member to "Senior Member" of ExCo and LegCo. The introduction in 1991 of direct elections to LegCo more than doubled the number of legislators. The directly elected members refused to take orders from the Senior Member. Allen Lee, senior member at the time was unable to represent the council with a single voice and would occasionally have run-ins with the directly-elected members. In 1992, Governor David Wilson abolished the post. In 1997, after the Transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, the post 'Senior Unofficial Member of ExCo' was renamed 'Convenor of the Unofficial Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong'.
During colonial times, the Urban Council also had a post entitled 'Senior Unofficial Member', with a similar role. However, its importance was considerably less than its ExCo and LegCo counterparts.
Read more about this topic: Senior Unofficial Member
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