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d. that, as Ministers have said in Parliament, it is most important that opinion in the Legislative
Council should be seen to be representative of all sections of the community in Hong Kong. Any initial
difficulties resulting from a broadening of the social basis of the Council will have to be accepted in the
interest of achieving this objective; and
that he is awaiting with interest the Governor's
recommendations about new appointments to the Legislative Council.
Possible Expansion of the Legislative Council
4.
Until recently the Governor was understood to be contemplating the achievement of a more broadly based Legislative Council by means of an enlargement of its membership. He is now believed to
have moved away from this idea. It is not known whether he has given any indication to Sir Y K Kan that he has had a possible enlargement of the Council in mind. If Sir Y K Kan raises this point, Lord Goronwy-Roberts might wish to say that he would prefer to await the Governor's recommendations concerning new appointments before commenting on the question of a possible enlargement of the Council.
Official Majority in the Legislative Council
5. The Governor has been informed that we would not favour doing away with the official majority in the Council as part of the process of achieving a wider social basis and, instead, that we should prefer to proceed one step at a time. If Sir Y K Kan should raise the question, Lord Gronowy-Roberts might indicate that we do not contemplate any immediate change in the balance of official and unofficial members in the Legislative Council.
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