Hong Kong’s divisive leader has announced he will not seek a second term, amid a deepening political crisis in the former British colony.

Leung Chun-ying cited family reasons for the decision to step down when his term ends in July 2017.

“I need to make a responsible choice between my family and society,” Hong Kong’s chief executive said at a press conference. “If I run, my family will suffer intolerable stress due to my electioneering … I must protect them.”

Under his leadership, Hong Kong has been rocked by some of the most severe challenges in history to China’s authority over the semi-autonomous city, including the umbrella movement protests in 2014, during which roads were occupied for nearly three months by demonstrators opposed to the method of electing the chief executive.

The failure of the protests to win any concessions from Leung and Beijing left the city starkly divided between pro-establishment and pro-democracy camps, and inspired an independence movement calling for it to break away from Beijing.

China has expressed fury over the movement, which it claims is illegal and will damage Hong Kong’s prosperity.

In recent months, Leung has taken the unprecedented step of filing lawsuits to successfully ban two popularly elected pro-independence politicians from taking their seats, and is seeking to bar four other pro-democracy MPs.

Willy Lam, a politics professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said: “The big picture hasn’t changed much, because at the end of the day, Beijing still calls the shots in Hong Kong, whoever is chief executive. But there’s a big sigh of relief because Hong Kong people hate him.

“He bent over backwards to please Beijing at the expense of the Hong Kong people.”

Leung’s popularity has plummeted in recent years. His approval rating for the past three months has been about 38%, according to the Public Opinion Programme at the University of Hong Kong, the second-lowest of any chief executive in history.

His resignation has been a key demand of the pro-democracy camp for years, and chants of “Leung Chun-ying, step down” permeate nearly every protest in the city. He is often called “the wolf”, a play on his last name, which sounds similar in Cantonese.

Leung was elected in 2012 by a 1,193-member election committee, securing 689 votes to run the city of 7.3 million people. Early in his term there were large-scale protests against a “patriotic education” curriculum, which was strongly supported by Chinese authorities but eventually scrapped.

Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy politician, told the Guardian: “There will be euphoria for a while. But things could get even worse, as his replacement gets more popular support amid a false feeling that Beijing will actually heed the Hong Kong people’s demands.”

Nathan Law, one of the MPs Leung is trying to disqualify, warned that the outgoing leader would become more antagonistic towards the pro-democracy camp in the coming months and called on people to “remain vigilant” during the election for Leung’s replacement in March.

“There will be more offensive moves inside the system targeting legislators,” Law said. “It’s a serious warning that we should be aware of his next move, instead of just feeling happy.”

In citing family reasons for his departure, Leung tacitly acknowledged his fraught relationship with his daughter, Leung Chai-yan, who previously said she suffered from depression.

But experts believe that larger political forces caused the sudden announcement. Lam said: “He exacerbated divisions in Hong Kong and he’s most responsible for the rise of the pro-independence movement.”

Leung was also unpopular with the city’s business community, especially the handful of tycoons who own nearly all Hong Kong’s critical infrastructure.

In an effort to appeal to China’s leaders, he often favoured Chinese state-owned companies over privately owned businesses when awarding lucrative government contracts.

The Chinese government said it “deeply regrets” Leung’s decision not to seek another term, according to a statement from the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.

“The central government has consistently given recognition and high praise to his work,” the office said. “He has made important contributions to safeguarding national sovereignty, security, development interests and social and political stability in Hong Kong.”

Last month, Leung said the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, approved of his work.

Hong Kong’s financial secretary, John Tsang, and the pro-Beijing MP Regina Ip are widely expected to run for chief executive next year.

Ip, the former secretary for security, resigned from that post in 2003 after the government’s attempt to introduce anti-sedition legislation prompted widespread protests.



But the candidates will still be subject to vetting by China and are likely to continue with many of the same political priorities.

Lam said: “It’s a mistake to think this shows Beijing is taking a more tolerant stance on Hong Kong politics. The Chinese government just wants a less divisive, more palatable figure to push their agenda.”