Lee's Popularity Starts on Low Point

Lee is tied for having the worst popularity rating as CE

Lucky for John Lee Ka-chiu that he was not voted in by the people. 

That's because the latest opinion polls have him ranked as one of the least popular Hong Kong leaders of all time.

Leung (above) and Lee both have 53.8 marks

In a Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute survey of 1,003 people between July 4-7, Lee had a popularity rating of 53.8 marks, while 12 percent of respondents gave him a rating of zero.

Guess that's what pulled his rating down?

He actually tied with Leung Chun-ying, who was chief executive from 2012 to 2017.

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was rated at 63.6 marks, but at the end of her term her popularity plunged to 36 marks.

Ouch.

Interestingly the polling had 45 percent of respondents who were confident in Lee, compared to 39 percent who had "no confidence".

Lam's popularity fell to 36 marks by end of June

The research institute pointed out in an Instagram post that with previous chief executives, "Pori had already conducted relevant popularity surveys. However, there was only one candidate in this year's election, and there was no extensive interaction between citizens and the candidate before he took office, Pori hence did not conduct any popularity surveys on the Chief-Executive-Elect. It was a loss in the field of public opinion research."

Indeed, not that Lee would have backed out of the one-man race if he knew his popularity ratings would be so low...