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Miriam Lau Kin-yee GBS OBE JP (Chinese: 劉健儀, born 27 April 1947) is a Hong Kong lawyer and former politician who served as a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1988 to 2012, first as an appointee of the Governor from 1988 to 1995, and subsequently as the representative of the transport industry functional constituency from 1995 to 2012.
Miriam Lau Kin-yee | |
|---|---|
劉健儀 | |
 | |
| Chairwoman of the Liberal Party | |
| In office 8 September 2008 – 9 September 2012 | |
| Preceded by | James Tien |
| Succeeded by | Vincent Fang (acting) |
| Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong | |
| In office 2 July 1998 – 16 July 2012 | |
| Preceded by | New parliament |
| Succeeded by | Frankie Yick |
| Constituency | Transport |
| In office 22 February 1997 – 8 April 1998 | |
| Constituency | Provisional Legislative Council |
| In office 11 October 1995 – 27 June 1997 | |
| Preceded by | New constituency |
| Succeeded by | Replaced by Provisional Legislative Council |
| Constituency | Transport & Communication |
| In office 22 September 1988 – 17 September 1995 | |
| Appointed by | Sir David Wilson |
| Constituency | Appointed |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 April 1947 Guangzhou, Canton, China |
| Nationality | Hong Kong Chinese |
| Political party | Liberal Party (1993–2022) |
| Spouse |
Alfred Lau Tit-hon
(m. 1979; div. 2001) |
| Residence | Hong Kong |
| Alma mater | University of Hong Kong University of East Asia |
| Occupation | Legislative Councillor solicitor |
| Miriam Lau Kin-yee | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 劉健儀 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 刘健仪 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Lau served as the Chairman of the House Committee from 2003 to 2012, and often presided over debates as Deputy President in the absence of Rita Fan and Jasper Tsang.
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Miriam Lau was born on 27 April 1947 in Guangzhou, China to a working-class family, moving to Hong Kong at a young age and settling in subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po. She studied at Maryknoll Convent School and later graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with second-class honours.
Lau was admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong in March 1977, and was subsequently admitted to practice in England and Wales in July 1981.[1] She was with the law firm of Alfred Lau, her ex-husband, from 1979 to 2001.[2] Lau currently is a consultant with the law firm King & Wood Mallesons, specialising in litigation.[3]
Lau entered politics in 1985 as an appointed member of the Urban Council, serving until 1991.
Lau was the chairwoman of the Liberal Party after James Tien's resignation following the party's poor performance in the 2008 Hong Kong legislative election until 2012, when she stood down for the same reason: in that election, the party secured only 2.64 percent of the popular vote. She also lost her own seat, having stood in the geographical constituency of Hong Kong Island, rather than in the (safer) option of her existing functional constituency.[4]
Lau resigned from the Liberal Party in 2022 along with former chairman and leader James Tien and Selina Chow, in protest of the new leadership's decision to abolish the position of honorary chairman.
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Lau is Catholic and has one child.[5] She was previously married to Alfred Lau, a lawyer, from 1979 to 2001.
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