# Miriam Lau

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Hong Kong politician and lawyer

In this [Hong Kong name](/source/Hong_Kong_name), the [surname](/source/Surname) is *[Lau](/source/Liu)*. In accordance with Hong Kong custom, the Western-style name is Miriam Lau and the Chinese-style name is Lau Kin-yee.

Miriam Lau Kin-yee GBS OBE JP 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 (1947-04-27) 27 April 1947 (age 79) Guangzhou, Canton, China Party Liberal Party (1993–2022) Spouse Alfred Lau Tit-hon ​ ​ (m. 1979; div. 2001)​ 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 Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Liú Jiànyí Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Làuh Gihn Yìh Jyutping Lau4 Gin6ji4

**Miriam Lau Kin-yee** [GBS](/source/Gold_Bauhinia_Star) [OBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) [JP](/source/Justice_of_the_Peace#Hong_Kong) ([Chinese](/source/Traditional_Chinese_characters): 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](/source/Legislative_Council_of_Hong_Kong) from 1988 to 2012, first as an appointee of the [Governor](/source/Governor_of_Hong_Kong) from 1988 to 1995, and subsequently as the representative of the transport industry [functional constituency](/source/Functional_constituency_(Hong_Kong)) from 1995 to 2012.

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](/source/Rita_Fan) and [Jasper Tsang](/source/Jasper_Tsang).

## Early life and education

Miriam Lau was born on 27 April 1947 in [Guangzhou](/source/Guangzhou), [China](/source/Republic_of_China_(1912%E2%80%931949)) 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](/source/Maryknoll_Convent_School) and later graduated from the [University of Hong Kong](/source/University_of_Hong_Kong) in 1968 with a [Bachelor of Arts](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) degree in English with [second-class honours](/source/British_undergraduate_degree_classification).

## Legal career

Lau was admitted as a [solicitor](/source/Solicitor) in Hong Kong in March 1977, and was subsequently admitted to practice in [England and Wales](/source/England_and_Wales) in July 1981.[1] She was with the [law firm](/source/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](/source/King_%26_Wood_Mallesons), specialising in litigation.[3]

## Political career

Lau entered politics in 1985 as an appointed member of the [Urban Council](/source/Urban_Council), serving until 1991.

Lau was the chairwoman of the [Liberal Party](/source/Liberal_Party_(Hong_Kong)) after [James Tien](/source/James_Tien_(politician))'s resignation following the party's poor performance in the [2008 Hong Kong legislative election](/source/2008_Hong_Kong_legislative_election) until 2012, when she stood down for the same reason: in [that election](/source/2012_Hong_Kong_legislative_election), the party secured only 2.64 percent of the popular vote. She also lost her own seat, having stood in the [geographical constituency](/source/Geographical_constituency) of [Hong Kong Island](/source/Hong_Kong_Island_(constituency)), rather than in the (safer) option of her existing functional constituency.[4]

Lau resigned from the [Liberal Party](/source/Liberal_Party_(Hong_Kong)) in 2022 along with former chairman and leader [James Tien](/source/James_Tien_(politician)) and [Selina Chow](/source/Selina_Chow), in protest of the new leadership's decision to abolish the position of honorary chairman.

## Personal life

Lau is [Catholic](/source/Catholic_Church) and has one child.[5] She was previously married to Alfred Lau, a lawyer, from 1979 to 2001.

## Honours

- [Justice of the Peace](/source/Justice_of_the_peace) (1991)

- [Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) (1992)

- [Golden Bauhinia Star](/source/Gold_Bauhinia_Star) (2004)

## See also

- [Politics of Hong Kong](/source/Politics_of_Hong_Kong)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["The Law List"](https://www.hklawsoc.org.hk/en/Serve-the-Public/The-Law-List/Member-Details?MemId=5218). *The Law Society of Hong Kong*. 13 December 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [The Honourable Miriam LAU Kin Yee, GBS, JP](http://210.177.208.185/miriam.html)[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Profile at King & Wood](http://www.kingandwood.com/lawyer.aspx?id=miriam-lau-kin-yee-gbs-jp&language=en)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Hon Miriam LAU Kin-yee, GBS, JP](http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/members/yr04-08/lkym.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20040925081656/http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/members/yr04-08/lkym.htm) 25 September 2004 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Membership"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080802154048/http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/members/yr00-04/lky.htm). 2 August 2008. Archived from [the original](http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/members/yr00-04/lky.htm) on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2024.

## External links

- [Legco profile (2000–04)](https://web.archive.org/web/20080802154048/http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/members/yr00-04/lky.htm)

Legislative Council of Hong Kong New constituency Member of Legislative Council Representative for Transport and Communication 1995–1997 Replaced by Provisional Legislative Council New parliament Member of Provisional Legislative Council 1997–1998 Replaced by Legislative Council Member of Legislative Council Representative for Transport 1998–2012 Succeeded by Frankie Yick Preceded by Selina Chow Chairman of House Committee 2003–2012 Succeeded by Andrew Leung Party political offices Preceded by Ronald Arculli Vice-Chairperson of the Liberal Party 2000–2008 Served alongside: Selina Chow Succeeded by Vincent Fang Preceded by James Tien Chairperson of the Liberal Party 2008–2012 Succeeded by Vincent Fang as Acting chairman Honorary titles Preceded by James Tien Honorary Chairperson of the Liberal Party 2012–present Incumbent Order of precedence Preceded by Timothy Fok Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star Hong Kong order of precedence Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star Succeeded by Haider Barma Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star

v t e Liberal Party Leadership Leaders James Tien Vincent Fang Felix Chung Chairmen Allen Lee James Tien Miriam Lau Selina Chow Felix Chung Tommy Cheung Honorary Chairmen James Tien Selina Chow Miriam Lau Vice-Chairmen Ronald Arculli Steven Poon Selina Chow Miriam Lau Tommy Cheung Vincent Fang Felix Chung Peter Shiu Alan Hoo Lee Chun-keung Representatives ExCo members James Tien Selina Chow Tommy Cheung Current LegCo members (4) Tommy Cheung Frankie Yick Peter Shiu Lee Chun-keung Former LegCo members Ronald Arculli Moses Cheng Selina Chow Vincent Fang Edward Ho Jeffrey Lam Lam Kui-chun Peggy Lam Miriam Lau Lau Wah-sum Lau Wong-fat Allen Lee Andrew Leung Sophie Leung Ngai Shiu-kit Steven Poon Henry Tang James Tien Kenneth Ting Peter Wong Howard Young Related groups Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong Co-operative Resources Centre Economic Synergy Group of 89 Pro-Beijing camp Hong Kong Portal

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Miriam Lau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam_Lau) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam_Lau?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.