By midnight GMT Sunday, pro-democracy candidates had won 333 of 452 seats, compared with 52 for the pro-establishment camp on a record turn out of more than 71 percent. The election was seen as a test of support for the Government after months of unrest, protests and clashes. The Government and Beijing had been hoping the election would bring a show of support from the so-called “silent majority”, but that did not materialise.
The pro-democracy activist, Joshua Wong, who was barred from running, tweeted that the “historic” results showed that public opinion had not turned against the pro-democracy movement.
He wrote: ”This is historic. Early returns suggest a landslide victory for the opposition camp.
“Hong Kongers have spoken out, loud and clear. The international community must acknowledge that, almost six months in, public opinion has NOT turned against the movement.”
Former student protest leader Tommy Cheung, who won a a seat in the Yuen Long district close to China’s border said: ”This is the power of democracy. This is a democratic tsunami.”
Hong Kong’s district councillors have little political power and mainly deal with local issues such as bus routes and rubbish collection.
As a result they don’t normally generate much interest.
But these polls were the first time people could express at the ballot box their opinion on embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s handling of the crisis, which was sparked by a now withdrawn extradition law.
A record 4.1 million people had registered to vote – more than half the population.
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So a pro-democracy district win could translate eventually to a bigger share say in who becomes the city’s next leader.
One of the biggest losers from the pro-Being camp was the controversial lawmaker Junius Ho.
Mr Ho’s abrasive comments have made him a hate-figure among many protesters and he was stabbed earlier this month by a man pretending to be a supporter.
He has repeatedly voiced his support for Hong Kong’s police force and their violent methods of suppressing the uprising.
He was also filmed in July shaking hands with a group of men – suspected of being triad gangsters – who later assaulted pro-democracy protesters.
On a Facebook post, Mr Ho wrote that it had been “an exceptional election, and an unusual result”.
The state-run China Daily newspaper said in an editorial on Monday the election: “will hopefully have served as an opportunity to return the city to normal”.
“The relative tranquility the city enjoyed since several days before the election suggests all stakeholders regarded it as an opportunity to air their views.”
The protests started over a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial but rapidly evolved into calls for full democracy.