John Tsang builds big poll lead over Carrie Lam in Hong Kong leadership race

In just a month, John Tsang Chun-wah has sped ahead as the most popular candidate in Hong Kong’s leadership race, widening the gap with arch-rival Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor by more than 14 percentage points, according to a survey commissioned by the South China Morning Post.

But more people, or about two-thirds of respondents, polled from last Thursday to Wednesday, were also realistic enough to recognise that Lam, touted as Beijing’s preferred candidate, stood a higher chance of winning the city’s top job.

The findings came as a group of Hong Kong deputies to the national legislature and advisory body, which has 194 members on the Election Committee that will pick the chief executive next month, pledged their support for the former chief secretary on Thursday.

Polling among respondents – the second such survey by the Post – began a day before Lam hosted a star-studded campaign rally on Friday and four days before Tsang unveiled his election platform, which includes a plan to revive national security legislation shelved in 2003 due to strong public opposition.