Voting is due to start today in the first major elections in Hong Kong since pro-democracy protests in 2014. The main parties competing are divided by their stances on the territory’s relationship with Beijing. Voters will choose 35 lawmakers based on geographical constituencies and 35 people to represent selected trades.

The city has partial democracy and not everybody can vote for all the seats. Thirty seats are decided by a pool of just 6 per cent of the population.

The vote does not elect the Chief Executive, who is the head of government, but many analysts believe the outcome of the vote could have an impact on whether China grants current leader CY Leung a second term in office.