In 1991, a deputy president, John Joseph Swaine, was appointed by the governor from among the non-official members to chair the sittings.

382 and the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (RoP), the President performs the following roles in the council: In a controversial move directed at reining in democratic legislators (most of whom were elected by universal suffrage and six of whose seats had been vacated by a controversial court order of disqualification), amendments to the Rules of Procedure were passed on 15 December 2017 giving sweeping powers to the president to control the business of the legislature.

Among them is the power to vet proposed motions and amendments to bills, require legislators to explain them and to reject or merge them.

Between 1991 and 1993, a deputy president, John Joseph Swaine, was appointed by the then-governor David Wilson to chair the meetings in his absence.

The governor then only attended the first session in October every year to present his policy address and gave a farewell speech to the members of the council before he left office.