Carrie Lam's popularity rating plunges to new low

Academic Chung Kim-wah says he expects the Chief Executive's popularity rating to continue falling. Photo: RTHK

Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s has popularity plunged to a new record low, as anti-government protests continue to grip the city.



The latest survey – conducted by veteran pollster Robert Chung’s Public Opinion Research Institute between August 15-20 – showed 76 percent of around 1,000 respondents oppose Lam as Chief Executive, up from 72 percent in the last poll at the beginning of the month.



The percentage of people who support her fell from 20 to 17 percent – giving her an overall popularity rating of 24.6 percent, down from 27.9 in early August.



Political commentator Chung Kim-wah of the Polytechnic University described the latest results as ‘scary’, saying he had thought Lam had hit ‘rock botton’ in the previous survey.



He added that judging by Lam’s public comments on Tuesday morning – where she again rejected the key demands of the anti-extradition protest movement – her popularity may keep falling.



The study also found that people’s trust in the central government also dropped to a record low, with 63 percent saying they do not trust Beijing.



Chung said this lack of trust is also ‘alarming.’



“I have always said that Beijing’s policy on Hong Kong had been wrong for a long time. Just by resting the central government’s trust and communication with some pro-government, pro-China people… [That] is not going to increase the people’s trust on Central Government”, Chung said.