Chief Secretary for Administration
Encyclopedia
The Chief Secretary for Administration , commonly known as Chief Secretary and abbreviated as CS, is the second highest position of the Hong Kong Government. The CS assists the Chief Executive
(Governor
before the transfer of sovereignty
) in supervising the policy bureaux as directed by the CE and plays a key role in the government's policy formulation and implementation as a whole. This is particularly important in areas which cut across policy bureaux.
The Chief Secretary also covers specific priority areas of the Chief Executive's policy agenda, and is responsible for forging a closer and more effective working relationship with the Legislative Council
and for drawing up the Government's legislative programme.
The Chief Secretary for Administration also exercises statutory functions vested in the position by law, such as those concerning the handling of appeals and certain public bodies.
Before the transfer of sovereignty
in 1997, the title was simply "Chief Secretary
" (布政司). Before 1976, the title was "Colonial Secretary" (輔政司).
Before the introduction of Principal Officials Accountability System
(POAS) in 2002, it was a civil service
position. As of 2005, the position has only been filled by former civil servants who retired from the civil service.
Chief Executive of Hong Kong
The Chief Executive of Hong Kong is the President of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and head of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The position was created to replace the Governor of Hong Kong, who was the head of the Hong Kong government during British rule...
(Governor
Governor of Hong Kong
The Governor of Hong Kong was the head of the government of Hong Kong during British rule from 1843 to 1997. The governor's roles were defined in the Hong Kong Letters Patent and Royal Instructions...
before the transfer of sovereignty
Handover
In cellular telecommunications, the term handover or handoff refers to the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another...
) in supervising the policy bureaux as directed by the CE and plays a key role in the government's policy formulation and implementation as a whole. This is particularly important in areas which cut across policy bureaux.
The Chief Secretary also covers specific priority areas of the Chief Executive's policy agenda, and is responsible for forging a closer and more effective working relationship with the Legislative Council
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong.-History:The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule...
and for drawing up the Government's legislative programme.
The Chief Secretary for Administration also exercises statutory functions vested in the position by law, such as those concerning the handling of appeals and certain public bodies.
Before the transfer of sovereignty
Handover
In cellular telecommunications, the term handover or handoff refers to the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another...
in 1997, the title was simply "Chief Secretary
Chief Secretary
The Chief Secretary is the title of a senior civil servant in members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, historically, in the British Empire. Prior to the dissolution of the colonies, the Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the...
" (布政司). Before 1976, the title was "Colonial Secretary" (輔政司).
Before the introduction of Principal Officials Accountability System
Principal Officials Accountability System
Principal Officials Accountability System , commonly referred to as the Ministerial system, sometimes the Accountability system, was introduced in Hong Kong by Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa in July 2002...
(POAS) in 2002, it was a civil service
Hong Kong Civil Service
The Hong Kong Civil Service is managed by 12 policy bureaux in the Government Secretariat, and 67 departments and agencies, mostly staffed by civil servants. The Secretary for the Civil Service is one of the Principal Officials appointed under the Accountability System and a Member of the...
position. As of 2005, the position has only been filled by former civil servants who retired from the civil service.
Colonial Secretaries between 1843 and 1976
- John Robert MorrisonJohn Robert MorrisonJohn Robert Morrison was the second son from Robert Morrison's first marriage with Mary Morton. He was a translator, diplomat and missionary in China and the Far East, most closely associated with Canton City and Hong Kong...
(1843–1844) - Sir Frederick BruceFrederick Wright-BruceSir Frederick Wright-Bruce, GCB was a British diplomat.Frederick Bruce was the youngest of the three sons of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, and his second wife Elizabeth, youngest daughter of James Townshend Oswald of Dunnikier, Fife. He was born at Bromhall, Fife, on 14 April 1814, and on 9 Feb...
(1844–1846) - William Caine (1846–1854)
- William Thomas MercerWilliam Thomas MercerWilliam Thomas Mercer was a British colonial administrator who served as the Colonial Treasurer , Auditor General , Colonial Secretary , and Administrator, between 15 March 1865 to 11 March 1866...
(1854–1868) - John Gardiner Austin (1868–1879)
- William Henry MarshWilliam Henry MarshWilliam Henry Marsh was a British colonial administrator, who governed Hong Kong as a colonial administrator twice. The first tenure started in March, 1882, and ended in March 1883, when Sir George Ferguson Bowen succeeded him as the 9th Governor of Hong Kong...
(1879–1887) - Dr. Frederick StewartFrederick StewartFrederick or Fred Stewart may refer to:*Frederick Stewart , Australian businessman, politician and government minister*Frederick Stewart , Colonial Secretary in Hong Kong...
(1887–1890) - Francis FlemingFrancis FlemingSir Francis Fleming KCMG was a British colonial administrator.His father was James Fleming, Q.C.. He attended Downside College near Bath, and studied law at the Middle Temple, and was called to the bar in 1866....
(1890–1892) - George Thomas Michael O'BrienGeorge Thomas Michael O'BrienSir George Thomas Michael O'Brien, KCMG was a British colonial official, who served as Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1892 to 1895, and as Governor of Fiji from 1897 to 1901. He died in 1906.O'Brien Road in Hong Kong was named after him....
(1892–1895) - Sir James Haldane Stewart LockhartJames Haldane Stewart LockhartSir James Haldane Stewart Lockhart KCMG, LLD was a British colonial official in Hong Kong and China for more than 40 years. Born in Ardsheal, Argyllshire, Scotland to Anna R. C...
(1895–1902) - Sir Francis Henry MayFrancis Henry MaySir Francis Henry May, GCMG was a British colonial administrator who became Governor of Hong Kong.-Early life and education:...
(1902–1910) - W.D. Barnes (1911)
- Sir Claud SevernClaud SevernClaude Severn was a British colonial administrator. He was the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1911–1925 and he governed Hong Kong on various occasions as an acting administrator....
(1912–1925) - Sir Wilfrid Thomas SouthornWilfrid Thomas SouthornWilfrid Thomas Southorn , known as Tom, was a British colonial administrator, spending the large part of career in Ceylon . He was the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1925–1936 and he became Acting Administrator of Hong Kong on various occasions...
(1925–1936) - Norman Lockhart SmithNorman Lockhart SmithNorman Lockhart Smith was a British colonial administrator who became Acting Administrator of Hong Kong on various occasions....
(1936–1941) - Sir Franklin Charles GimsonFranklin Charles GimsonSir Franklin Charles Gimson, KCMG, KStJ, was a British colonial administrator, who served in Ceylon from 1914 to 1941, and later, the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong and the Governor of Singapore....
(1941) - David Mercer MacDougallDavid Mercer MacDougallDavid Mercer MacDougall was a Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong between 1945 and 1949....
(1945–1949) - John Fearns NicollJohn Fearns NicollSir John Fearns Nicoll was a British colonial governor. He was Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1949 to 1952, and Governor of Singapore from 1952 to 1955.He died at the hospital located at Scio House, Putney Heath....
(1949–1952) - Sir Robert Brown BlackRobert Brown BlackSir Robert Brown Black GCMG, OBE was a British colonial administrator. He would spend three decades overseas and return to Britain in the 1960s: he was Governor of Hong Kong from 23 January 1958 to 1 April 1964, having been Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1952 – 1955...
(1952–1955) - Edgeworth Beresford DavidEdgeworth Beresford DavidEdgeworth Beresford David was the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1955 - 1957. David became Administrator after Black was named Governor in late 1957....
(1955–1958) - Claude Bramall BurgessClaude Bramall BurgessClaude Bramall Burgess , CMG, OBE, MA was the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1958 - 1963....
(1958–1963) - Edmund Brinsley Teesdale (1963–1965)
- Dr. Michael David Irving GassMichael David Irving GassSir Michael David Irving Gass, KCMG , was the penultimate High Commissioner of the Western Pacific and also in his junior days Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1965 - 1969.He married Elizabeth Periam Fuller Acland Hood in 1975....
(1965–1970) - Sir Hugh Selby Norman-Walker (1969–1973)
- Sir Denys Tudor Emil RobertsDenys RobertsDato Seri Paduka Sir Denys Tudor Emil Roberts, KBE, SPMB, QC , is a British former colonial official and judge. Joining the colonial civil service as a Crown Counsel in Nyasaland in 1953, he became Attorney-General of Gibraltar in 1960...
(1973–1976)
Chief Secretaries between 1976 and 1997
- Sir Denys Tudor Emil Roberts (1976–1978)
- Sir Jack CaterJack CaterSir Jack Cater, KBE, JP was the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong from 1978 to 1981. Cater was the third Chief Secretary under the Governorship of Sir Murray MacLehose, later Lord MacLehose of Beoch...
(1978–1981) - Sir Charles Philip Haddon-CaveCharles Philip Haddon-CaveSir Charles Philip Haddon-Cave , KBE, CMG was Financial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1971 to 1981. During the period when he was in charge of the economic policy of the Hong Kong government, he adopted "positive non-interventionism" as its chief principle...
(1981–1985) - Sir David Akers-JonesDavid Akers-JonesSir David Akers-Jones, KBE, CMG, GBM, JP was the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1987, and was briefly Acting Governor of Hong Kong.-Biography:...
(1985–1987) - Sir David Robert FordDavid Robert FordSir David Robert Ford KBE, LVO , was the fifth and the last non-Chinese Chief Secretary of Hong Kong. He initiated the planning for Hong Kong's new international airport at Chek Lap Kok in 1989....
(1987–1993) - Anson Chan Fong On-sangAnson ChanAnson Maria Elizabeth Chan Fang On-sang GBM GCMG CBE JP was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for Hong Kong Island, succeeding the late legislator Ma Lik....
(1993–1997)
Chief Secretaries for Administration after 1997
- Anson Chan Fong On-sangAnson ChanAnson Maria Elizabeth Chan Fang On-sang GBM GCMG CBE JP was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for Hong Kong Island, succeeding the late legislator Ma Lik....
(1997–2001) - Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuenDonald TsangSir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, GBM, KBE is the current Chief Executive and President of the Executive Council of the Government of Hong Kong....
(2001–2005) - Rafael Hui Si-yanRafael HuiRafael Hui Si-yan, GBM GBS JP was the former Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong and a former career civil servant. Hui has been dubbed "Old Master Hui" and "Fat Dragon" . Hui was appointed as a Justice of the Peace on 1986 and received the honour of Gold Bauhinia Star in 1998.Hui...
(2005–2007) - Henry Tang Ying-yenHenry TangHenry Tang Ying-yen, GBM, GBS, JP was the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong until his resignation in September 2011. He is a candidate in the Hong Kong Chief Executive election of 2012, and believed to be preferred by Beijing....
(2007-2011) - Stephen Lam Sui-lungStephen LamStephen Lam Sui-lung GBS JP is the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong and formerly Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs....
(2011-)
See also
- Hong Kong Government
- Government departments and agencies in Hong KongGovernment departments and agencies in Hong KongThis is a list government agencies of the Hong Kong Government.The policies of the government are formulated decided by the bureaux led by secretaries and permanent secretaries are discussed in the Executive Council and implemented by the departments and agencies...
- Secretary for JusticeSecretary for JusticeThe Secretary for Justice is a member of the Hong Kong Government responsible for prosecutions and legal matters. He or she heads the Department of Justice....
- Financial Secretary (Hong Kong)Financial Secretary (Hong Kong)Financial Secretary , often abbreviated as FS, is a position of the Government of Hong Kong. The FS assists the Chief Executive in supervising the policy bureaux as directed by the CE, mostly finance and economy-related, and plays a key role in ensuring harmonisation in policy formulation and...
- Secretary for Education and ManpowerSecretary for Education and ManpowerThe Secretary for Education is a principal official in the Hong Kong Government, who heads the Education Bureau . The current office holder is Michael Suen.-History:...
- Secretary for Health, Welfare and FoodSecretary for Health, Welfare and FoodThe Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food was a ministerial position in the Hong Kong Government, who headed the former Health, Welfare and Food Bureau . It was replaced by Secretary for Food and Health on July 1, 2007....
- Lieutenant Governor of Hong KongLieutenant Governor of Hong KongLieutenant Governor of Hong Kong was the second highest position during the British colonial rule in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1902.-History:Although Lieutenant Governor of Hong Kong was the second highest position in Hong Kong, the Lieutenant Governor did not have any actual power in the Government...
- second in command from 1843 to 1870s