The Sham Shui Po District Board became Sham Shui Po 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.

Partly because of the large presence of the low-income group in Sham Shui Po, the area has bred many pro-grassroots politicians.

It also returned its longtime chairman Frederick Fung in the Kowloon West constituency, in which Sham Shui Po is the biggest area, to the Legislative Council from 1991 to 1997 and from 1998 to 2012.

as composed to pro-Beijing camp's 12 seats, despite the downfall of Frederick Fung in his Lai Kok constituency, being defeated by a DAB new face Chan Wing-yan.

Amid the massive pro-democracy protests, the pro-democrats scored a historic landslide victory by taking 22 of the 25 seats in the 2019 District Council election.