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Newly elected Legislative Council member Alvin Yeung Ngok-Kiu shake hands with Legislative Council member James To Kun-sun before a swearing-in ceremony at Legco Chamber in Tamar. Photo: SCMP

After weeks of intense political campaigns and a vicious war of words on social media, the dust has finally settled on who will fill the Legislative Council seat vacated by former Civic Party senior Ronny Tong Ka-wah.

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In the end, Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu beat six other candidates in the New Territories East by-election last Sunday, winning by a thin margin, and became the latest poster boy for the pan-democrats. The 35-year-old barrister could heave a sigh of relief for not letting down his party elders. His win means the tie-breaking seat in the geographical constituencies, the directly elected half of Legco, is now safe and the pan-democrats can hold on to their house majority and veto power. All’s well that ends well.

Or so it seems.

While the by-election is a winner-takes-all proposition, the politics behind it isn’t. The time to take stock of the winners and losers is now.

READ MORE: Civic Party wins New Territories East by-election, but Edward Leung comes a respectable third

Hong Kong Indigenous’ Edward Leung Tin-kei. Photo: SCMP/Edward Wong
Hong Kong Indigenous’ Edward Leung Tin-kei. Photo: SCMP/Edward Wong

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