The Central and Western District Board became Central and Western Provisional District Board after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was established in 1997 with the appointment system being reintroduced by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.

The Democratic Party, the merger of UDHK and Meeting Point, took control of the board from 1994 to 1997 after the abolishment of the appointed seats.

In the 2003 tide of democracy after the July 1 protest, the pro-democrats formed the Central and Western Democratic Power for the 2003 election and won seven seats, which saw pro-democrat Legislative Councillor Cyd Ho defeating Ip Kwok-him of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) in his long-held constituency of Kwun Lung.

Democratic Party's Kam Nai-wai was able to take the chairmanship with the help of appointed member Wu Chor-nam.

In the 2019 election amid the ongoing pro-democracy protests, the pro-democrats scored a historic landslide victory by taking 14 of the 15 seats, with DAB being completely wiped out from the council and its legislator Cheung Kwok-kwan being ousted in Sai Wan.