CONFIDENTIAL
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Secretary for Home Affairs
Financial Secretary
At present there is one other Official member who is currently the Secretary for Social Services, and eight Unofficial members, all of whom are appointed by the Governor for terms of 5 years on instructions from the Secretary of State. The Governor is constitutionally required to consult ExCo except on matters he considers too unimportant or too urgent to warrant obtaining their advice. He may act in opposition to the advice given by ExCo but if he does so he must report the grounds and the reasons for his action to HMG.
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5. The Governor legislates with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council (known as LegCo). Until August last year this consisted of 30 members comprising the Governor, 4 ex-officio members (except for the Commander of the British Forces, the same as sit on ExCo), 10 other Officials (the heads of government departments) and 15 Unofficials. The Governor had both an original and casting vote which gave an official majority. The Council has since been expanded and now consists of the Governor, 18 Officials and 22 Unofficials, so that there is, in effect, an Unofficial majority. However, the Governor has not for many years sought to override the views of LegCo by using the official majority and should the need for an official majority arise he can appoint, on instructions from the Secretary of State, extra Officials to the Council.
The Informal Arrangements
6. Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils form a coherent (though not constitutionally recognised) body known as UMELCO, which sees itself as the "popular" representative of the Hong Kong interest. The functions of UMELCO are more akin to those of Ministers than backbenchers although the analogy cannot be taken too far. They work very closely with senior officials in the preparation of legislation and over a wide field of administrative
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CONFIDENTIAL
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