Hong Kong’s largest labour group has called the defeat of two incumbent lawmakers in the Legislative Council elections a regret, noting there are "gains and losses" in this year's polls.

The Federation of Trade Unions, which fielded 16 candidates, secured seven seats in the legislature.

They include federation president Stanley Ng, Bill Tang – who's the second-highest among all vote-getters with 53,675 ballots – and Joephy Chan. They each won a directly elected seat.

But two incumbents from the group, Kwok Wai-keung and Michael Luk, failed to win re-election after switching to the geographical constituency race.

"We win some, we lose some. While we have gained new seats, we have also lost two incumbents. This is of course a regret. But it is the overall decision-making and deployment of the federation," Ng said.

Kwok expressed regret at the federation's inability to win more seats in the legislature, while hoping other members continue to fight for labour rights.

Luk told reporters: "The outcome was a bit disappointing. But I would continue to reflect on in what areas I could do better."

Other lawmakers-elect include federation chairman Kingsley Wong and Dennis Leung, who both saw success in the Election Committee constituency. Two newcomers, Lee Kwong-yu and Lam Wai-kong, managed to win seats representing the labour sector.