Hong Kong election 2019 results – who won and what does it mean?

PRO-democracy parties in Hong Kong have won almost 390 of the 452 seats available in the district council elections.

But what does this mean and will this affect the protests that have gripped the city for the months?

Who won?

The votes were still being counted this morning, but the pro-democracy campaign secured 90 per cent of the seats available.

The city's leader Carrie Lam, who had claimed that a silent majority supported her, promised today to "listen humbly to citizens' opinions and reflect on them honestly."

"The voice of the public is loud and clear… We hope the government can heed the protesters' demands," Roy Kwong, a member of Hong Kong's legislature who won a district council seat for the Democratic Party, was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.

Results from 241 races tabulated early Monday by the newspaper showed 201 pro-democracy candidates winning their races as opposed to just 28 pro-Beijing establishment candidates and 12 independents.

Analysts had expected pro-democracy candidates to achieve only minimal gains in the councils.

A record 71 per cent of the 4.13 million citizens who registered to vote had cast their ballots, according to Hong Kong's election watchdog, far higher than the then-record 47 percent who voted in 2015 council elections.

The largely leaderless protest movement started with giant rallies in June against a bill backed by Lam that would have allowed extraditions to China's opaque justice system.

What does it mean?

Hong Kong's district councillors have very little political power and typically focus on local issues, so they don't tend to be of much interest.

But these polls were the first time that people could share their concerns on Carrie Lam's handling of the protests, which was sparked by a now withdrawn extradition law.

Beijing-backed Lam cast her ballot in front of television cameras and pledged that her government, widely seen as out of touch, would listen 'more intensively' to the views of district councils.

"I hope this kind of stability and calm is not only for today's election, but to show that everyone does not want Hong Kong to fall into a chaotic situation again," Lam said.

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