Handbag Party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Handbag Party",[1] "Handbag Gang",[2] or "Handbag Brigade"[3] (Chinese: 手袋黨) was a group of Hong Kong female senior officials in the late British colonial government and early Chinese administration, led by then-Chief Secretary Anson Chan. The clique was named after they dressed like then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with handbags in hand,[4] and sang for the departing Governor Sir Murray MacLehose in a 1982 farewell dinner. Media described them as "with small handbags but strong audacity and in high-ranking positions".[5]
Soon after the handover, rumoured disagreement between Chan and the inaugural Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa diminished the power of the Handbag Party. Following the introduction of the Principal Officials Accountability System, most of the members were not promoted to appointed minister-level principal officials and remained as permanent secretary only.[6] As Chan retired early in 2001, others either followed suit or remained in the government of Tung and later of Donald Tsang.
