incumbents chose not to run for re-election. Opinion polling Results A record number of 3.37 million people registered to vote in the election. The turnout rate was low, at 45% with 1.51 million voters casting ballots. Commentator Chris Yeung believed that the Liaison Office operated behind the scenes to co-ordinate votes for the pro-Beijing camp. These independents managed to secure seats, but apparently not at the expense of support for the pan-democrats. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong remained the largest single party in Council, with 13 seats. The share of the pan-democratic parties' vote among voters dropped from 60% in 2004 to 57%, which translated into a net loss of 2 seats. The pan-democrats were elected to a total of 23 seats, 19 seats in the directly elected geographical constituencies, and four seats from the functional constituencies. By virtue of having in excess of of the seats in LegCo, their ability to veto constitutional changes remained intact. The pan-democrats' veto power were crucial for the electoral arrangements for the 2012 elections, which will take place during this Council. In the backdrop of a deteriorating economy and rising inflation, voters shifted their preferences towards more radical and grass-roots politicians; the electorate's suspicions of collusion between government and big business dealt a blow to the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party suffered double defeat when Selina Chow and chairman James Tien lost their seats in the New Territories West and New Territories East geographical constituencies respectively. Their bid to secure seats in other constituencies also failed. Tien resigned as the Liberal Party's chairman after his defeat, and Chow resigned both her vice-chairmanship and her seat on the Executive Council of Hong Kong. The election of three members of the League of Social Democrats and four trade-unionists to Legco is set to pose a challenge to the government on welfare and livelihood issues. Share of votes of the parties by polling stations: Before election: Change in composition: |- ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" rowspan=2 colspan=3 |Parties and allegiances ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" colspan=4 |Geographical constituencies ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" colspan=4 |Functional constituencies ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" rowspan=2 |Totalseats ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" rowspan=2 |± |- ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |% ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |±pp ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Seats ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |% ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |±pp ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Seats |- |rowspan=4 style="background-color:Pink;border-bottom-style:hidden;"| |style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;" |Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong |347,373 |22.92 |0.19 |7 |259 |0.21