2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election

Hong Kong Chief Executive election, 2017

26 March 2017
All 1,194 votes of the Election Committee 601 votes needed to win
Opinion polls
Nominee John Tsang Carrie Lam Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Alliance Pro-Beijing Pro-Beijing   Nominee Woo Kwok-hing Regina Ip Party Nonpartisan NPP Alliance N/A Pro-Beijing
Incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying Nonpartisan

The 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election is scheduled on 26 March 2017 for the 5th term of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE), the highest office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). After the government's controversial constitutional reform proposal being rejected by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), in the wake of a series of controversies and massive Occupy protests, the selecting method of the 2017 Chief Executive would remain chosen by the 1,194-member Election Committee (EC).

Incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has announced he would not run for second term. After Leung announcement, Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam, who had repeatedly said she would retire, reconsidered running for the office. Widely seen as Beijing's favourite, Lam runs against Financial Secretary John Tsang, who had waited for the central government's long-pending approval of his resignation before he launched the campaign in mid January. Despite his government background and topping in the polls against Lam, Tsang struggled to get nominations from the Election Committee amid the speculations that his candidacy was opposed by Beijing and had to rely heavily on the pro-democrats, who did not field their candidate in order to boost the chance for an alternative establishment candidate.

Two other candidates include retired judge Woo Kwok-hing and New People's Party chairwoman and legislator Regina Ip. Radical pro-democracy legislator Leung Kwok-hung also announced his campaign through a "civil nomination" mechanism but withdrew after he failed to gain enough nominations from the public.

Background

Further information: Leung Chun-ying as Chief Executive of Hong Kong, 2014–15 Hong Kong electoral reform, and 2014 Hong Kong protests

The highest office of Hong Kong, the Chief Executive, is currently elected by a 1,200-member Election Committee (EC) which is divided by various subsectors and dominated by the pro-Beijing politicians and tycoons. Since the Article 45 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong states the "ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures", the progress to universal suffrage has been the dominant issue in Hong Kong politics since the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, in which the pro-democracy camp has demanded the full implementation of Article 45. In 2004 the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) ruled out universal suffrage in the 2012 Chief Executive election, but in 2007 ruled that the 2017 Chief Executive election "may be implemented by the method of universal suffrage".

During the constitutional reform debate for the 2017 Chief Executive election, the NPCSC on 31 August 2014 imposed the standard that "the Chief Executive shall be a person who loves the country and loves Hong Kong" and be nominated by a nominating committee, mirroring the present Election Committee, to nominate two to three candidates, each of whom must receive the support of more than half of the members of the nominating committee. The pan-democrats viewed the restrictive nominating process as a violation of international standards of free elections, as candidates unsupportive of the central government would likely be screened out. The "831 decision" triggered a class boycott in Hong Kong which escalated into an unprecedented 79-day large-scale occupy movement, which was internationally known as the "Umbrella Revolution".

On 18 June 2015, the Legislative Council rejected the electoral reform proposal 28 to 8 votes with 33 principally pro-Beijing legislators controversially absent, which meant the selecting method of the 2017 Chief Executive would remain chosen by the 1,200-member Election Committee.

Candidates

Nominated

Candidate			Born	Party	Most recent position	Campaign	Nominations received
bgcolor=Template:Nonpartisan/meta/color|		Carrie Lam 林鄭月娥	13 May 1957 (age 59)	Nonpartisan (Pro-Beijing)	Chief Secretary for Administration (2012–2017)	Announced: 16 January 2017 Nominated: 28 February 2017	579 / 1,194 (48%)
bgcolor=Template:Nonpartisan/meta/color|		Woo Kwok-hing 胡國興	13 January 1946 (age 71)	Nonpartisan (Non-aligned)	Deputy Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court (2016)	Announced: 27 October 2016 Nominated: 27 February 2017	179 / 1,194 (15%)
bgcolor=Template:Nonpartisan/meta/color|		John Tsang 曾俊華	21 April 1951 (age 65)	Nonpartisan (Pro-Beijing)	Financial Secretary (2007–2017)	File:John Tsang 2017 CE logo.svg Announced: 19 January 2017 Nominated: 25 February 2017	160 / 1,194 (13%)

Announced

Candidate			Born	Party	Most recent position	Campaign	Estimated nominations
bgcolor=Template:NPPHK/meta/color|		Regina Ip 葉劉淑儀	24 August 1950 (age 66)	New People's Party (Pro-Beijing)	Member of the Legislative Council and New People's Party Chairwoman (2008–present; 2011–present)	Announced: 15 December 2016	15 / 1,194 (1%)

Other minor candidates included insurer Jenny Kan Wai-fun, Vincent Lau Chi-wing, barrister Albert Leung Sze-ho, ex-DAB member Wu Sai-chuen and Professor Yu Wing-yin.

Withdrawn

Candidate			Born	Party	Most recent position	Campaign	Nominations received
bgcolor=Template:League of Social Democrats/meta/color|		Leung Kwok-hung 梁國雄	27 March 1956 (age 68)	League of Social Democrats (Pro-democracy)	Member of the Legislative Council (2004–2010, 2010–present)	Announced: 8 February 2017 Withdrew: 25 February 2017	Withdrew

Publicly expressed interest

• Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, former President of Legislative Council

• 
  Former Legislative Council President
  Jasper Tsang

Other potential candidates

Individuals listed below have been mentioned as potential 2017 Chief Executive candidates in at least two reliable media sources.

• Norman Chan Tak-lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority
• Antony Leung Kam-chung, businessman and former Financial Secretary

• Chief Executive of HKMA Norman Chan
  Chief Executive of HKMA
  Norman Chan
• 
  Former Financial Secretary
  Antony Leung

Declined

• Bernard Charnwut Chan, businessman and member of the Executive Council
• Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, director-general of the World Health Organization
• Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, former chairwoman of the Civic Party and former member of Legislative Council
• Emily Lau Wai-hing, former chairwoman of Democratic Party and former member of Legislative Council
• Starry Lee Wai-king, chairwoman of Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) and member of Legislative Council
• Leung Chun-ying, incumbent Chief Executive of Hong Kong
• Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, chairman of the Council of the University of Hong Kong
• Frederick Ma Si-hang, chairman of the MTR Corporation
• Henry Tang Ying-yen, former Chief Secretary for Administration and 2012 Chief Executive candidate
• James Tien Pei-chun, honorary chairman of Liberal Party and former member of Legislative Council
• Peter Woo Kwong-ching, former chairman of Wharf Holdings and 1996 Chief Executive candidate

Pre-nomination events

October 2016: Emergence of potential candidates

Retired judge Woo Kwok-hing became the first candidate to declare his campaign on 27 October 2016.

The Chief Executive race started as early on 27 October 2016 when retired judge Woo Kwok-hing became the first candidate to declare his campaign. He launched an offensive campaign against incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, questioning his achievements during his term while Woo himself was questioned for his lack of experience in public administration.

Around the same time, New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip, a 2012 candidate but did not receive enough nominations, expressed her interest in running in the election for the second time. She criticised the potential candidate, Financial Secretary John Tsang for not doing much in the last decade. Tsang responded by saying that "if one can be idle at it for 10 years, [he] has quite a bit of talent." He refused to response if he would run, only said it was "heaven’s secret". Leung Chun-ying, who was exepcted to seek for second term, also unleashed a thinly-veiled attack on Tsang, suggesting ministers should be "responsible" and focus on the upcoming policy address and budget rather than thinking about joining the race. Leung also argued that "will those pushing for the city’s independence stop what they are doing? Will those insulting their own country shut up?", referring to the Legislative Council oath-taking controversy. He went on by asking "will the land and housing problems that have accumulated become easier to solve under a new leader or government? Will the cabinet continue to touch on vested interests in the property market with courage and determination, and amid difficulties, to solve the housing problems?"

November to December 2016: Pro-democrats' ABC campaign

Further information: Hong Kong Election Committee Subsector elections, 2016

Incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced he would not seek re-election on 9 December 2016.

The pro-democrat professionals and activists formed a loose coalition called "Democrats 300+" hoping to snatch over 300 seats in the Election Committee Subsector elections based on the common platform of opposing Leung Chun-ying's second term, many of whom with the slogan of "ABC" (Anyone but CY). The camp tended not to send a candidate in the election and boost the chance for an alternative establishment candidate. On 9 December, two days before the election, Leung surprisingly announced he would not seek re-election, citing his daughter's ill health, which made him the first Chief Executive who would serve only one term. After Leung's announcement, Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam, previously said she would retire, expressed she would have to reconsider running for Chief Executive in order to continue Leung's policies.

Despite Leung's announcement, the pro-democrats still managed to win record 325 out of 1,200 seats in the Election Committee election, more a quarter of seats with a surge of the turnout nearly 20 percentage points higher than that in the last committee election in 2011. After the election, the two potential candidates, John Tsang and Regina Ip, resigned from their Financial Secretary and Executive Councillor posts on 12 and 15 December respectively, being expected to run.

On 14 December, Woo Kwok-hing became the first one to unveil his electoral platform under the slogan of "Good Heart, Right Path, Bright Future for Hong Kong". He proposed to expand the electorate base for choosing the Election Committee from the current 250,000 to one million in 2022, rising to three million by 2032 and eventually quasi-universal suffrage. His attendees included Andy Ho On-tat, former information coordinator during Donald Tsang administration from 2006 to 2012.

Regina Ip received the New People's Party's endorsement on 14 December and resigned from the Executive Council on the next day. She announced her candidacy on 15 December under the campaign slogan "Win Back Hong Kong", the one she used in her 2016 Legislative Council campaign. She called for a relaunch of the electoral reform process under Beijing’s restrictive framework as decreed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) on 31 August 2014. She also pledged to enact controversial Basic Law Article 23 with "suitable measures". Her campaign launching rally was attended by former colonial Chief Secretary Sir David Akers-Jones and businessman Allan Zeman as special advisers to Ip’s campaign office.

In late December, Wang Guangya, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), laid out four basic criteria for the next Chief Executive in an interview with a pro-Beijing magazine: who love China, love Hong Kong, who Beijing can trust, who are capable of governing and supported by the Hong Kong people, in that order.

Mid January 2017: Carrie Lam and John Tsang enter the race

Former Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam announced her candidacy on 16 January 2017 being seen as Beijing's preferred choice.

On 12 January 2017, Carrie Lam resigned from her Chief Secretary post and announced her plan to run for Chief Executive if her resignation was approved. In a close-door meeting, she laid out an eight-point "achievable new vision" for Hong Kong and told participants that God had called on her to run. On 16 January, the two Secretaries' resignations were simultaneously approved by the central government, despite Tsang handed in his resignation on 12 December, while Lam only four days earlier on 12 January. Some pro-Beijing politicians saw this as a signal that Lam was the central government’s favoured candidate. Lam officially declared her candidacy on the same day, promising good governance with greater transparency and "new blood" in her cabinet. The press conference was hosted alongside Executive Councillor Bernard Chan, director of Lam's campaign office. The chairmen’s council of the campaign office was also composed of heavyweights, such as former Hong Kong Stock Exchange chairman Ronald Arculli.

As Lam declared her candidacy and Tsang was expected to run, political analysts said that could endanger Regina Ip's chances of getting the minimum 150 nominations to enter the race. Ip revealed that two or three electors, including Allan Zeman, have turned their backs on her to support Lam. She got emotional and tear-eyed in a media gathering on 17 January, "[i]n the past ten years I started from nothing, working hard bit by bit, splashing out my own money, putting in much mental and physical effort," Ip said as her voice shook. "Can you say I had not taken on responsibilities for the Hong Kong society? When I handled Article 23, I did not perform satisfactorily?" she defended herself, "I have taken responsibility under the accountability system and have already apologised multiple times. I was not shameless, I did not hold onto my powers. I stepped down from the administration...I definitely have taken on a lot of responsibilities." Ip's remarks came after Leung Chun-ying praised Lam for her "ability and willingness to take on responsibilities".

Former Financial Secretary John Tsang launched his campaign on 19 January 2017 after his long-waited resignation was approved by the central government.

John Tsang officially declared his candidacy on 19 January with a slogan of "Trust, Unity, Hope", after more than a month-long pending of his resignation by the central government which put his campaign in limbo. To contrast Lam who was perceived to follow Leung Chun-ying's hardline and divisive policies, Tsang described himself as a good listener and accept different views. He appealed to "all 7.35 million Hongkongers so that together we can make Hong Kong a better place." Retired senior civil servant former Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service Rebecca Lai Ko Wing-yee and former Permanent Secretary for Food and Health Sandra Lee Suk-yee became director and officer of Tsang's campaign office respectively, despite a number of his supporters switching to Lam’s camp amid reports suggesting he failed to get endorsement from Beijing. Tsang also launched his election Facebook page, which drew more than 100,000 likes in a day.

In a close-door meeting with senior media executives on 20 January, Lam reportedly said she decided to run to prevent the election would be won by someone not accepted by Beijing which would cause "constitutional crisis". Woo Kwok-hing criticised Lam for using a "despicable tactic" to attack her opponents. Lam's campaign office later clarified that Lam was only making a general comment without targeting anybody in particular. She was also criticised for being out of touch with ordinary people after she appeared unfamiliar with how to use an Octopus card to pass through a turnstile when she took the MTR and did not know convenience store does not sell toilet paper and had to take a cab back to her former official residence to get one, which was dubbed "loo paper-gate" by English media. She was further under criticism for being ignorant after giving HK$500 to an illegal beggar who was allegedly "trafficked" from China.

Late January to early February 2017: Canvassing nominations

New People's Party Regina Ip faced an uphill battle of getting nominations after Lam and Tsang announced to run.

After days of candidates meeting with the Election Committee members from different sectors to canvass at least 150 nominations in order to enter the race, by 27 January multiple reports speculated that Carrie Lam had already secured 300 to 400 nominations. Heung Yee Kuk and the New Territories Association of Societies (NTAS) stated that they inclined to nominate Lam. Together with pro-Beijing parties Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), and Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA), as well as Import and Export subsector and Sports and Culture sub-subsectors, Lam was estimated to grab more than 500 nominations. In contrast, despite topping in the polls, John Tsang was speculated securing less than 100 nominations. Tsang stated "[t]here is no reason for me to believe that the central government does not trust me," as pro-Beijing electors felt pressured if nominate him amid the speculation that he was not Beijing's choice. Regina Ip was speculated holding about 20 nominations from her New People's Party, while Woo Kwok-hing, who had not revealed any electors' endorsement, repeatedly said he was confident in receiving enough nominations.

Hours before Carrie Lam's large-scale election rally on 3 February, John Tsang launched a crowdfunding website. The website went down within minutes due to overloading. The public responded actively, with more than one million Hong Kong dollars being raised in just the first few hours. Former Secretary for Development Mak Chai-kwong, despite being former top aid of Carrie Lam, also showed support for Tsang in Facebook video. Highlighted with the campaign slogan of "We Connect" including the catchwords "We Care, We Listen, We Act", Lam's campaign rally was attended by nearly 800 pro-Beijing figures and tycoons from both the Henry Tang and Leung Chun-ying camps in the last election. She also revealed a star-studded campaign team, which included council of chairpersons consisting of Ronald Arculli, Laura Cha, Moses Cheng, Jonathan Choi Koon-sum, Timothy Fok, Lam Tai-fai, Eddy Li Sau-hung, Victor Lo, Lo Man-tuen, Anthony Wu, Yu Kwok-chun and Allan Zeman; senior advisers consisting of heavyweights including senior pro-Beijing politicians including Chan Wing-kee, Cheng Yiu-tong, Hung Chao-hong and Rita Fan, tycoons such as Robin Chan, Aron Harilela, Xu Rongmao, Robert Kuok, Peter Lam, Lee Shau-kee, Vincent Lo, Robert Ng, Peter Woo and Charles Yeung and others such as Lawrence Lau, Lau Chin-shek, Li Fung-ying and Joseph Yam.

On 5 February, Woo Kwok-hing updated his election platform, including the implementation of the Basic Law Article 22, which states that no mainland authorities can interfere in Hong Kong internal affairs. On the next day, John Tsang unveiled his 75-page election platform entitled "Convergence of Hearts, Proactive Enablement", with the promise of revisiting the possibility of the Article 23 national security legislation with the possibility of relaunching political reform. Other policies included introducing a progressive profit tax, developing New Territories North and East Lantau and abolishing all Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) and Basic Competency Assessment (BCA) tests, among others.

Radical pro-democrat legislator Leung Kwok-hung announced his candidacy through the "civil nomination" campaign on 8 February.

Radical pro-democrat legislator "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung of the League of Social Democrats (LSD) formally announced his Chief Executive bid on 8 February through a "civil nomination" mechanism conducted by post-Occupy group Citizens United in Action, in which he would seek to secure 37,790 votes from members of the public, one per cent of the city’s registered voters before he would canvass for the nominations from the Election Committee. He explained his decision was to urge the pro-democrat electors not to vote for any pro-establishment candidate who could not represent the pro-democracy camp at all even if they view as "lesser evil", as some pro-democrats had inclined to support John Tsang, the relatively liberal pro-establishment candidate to prevent a hardliner Carrie Lam from winning. He also aimed to reflect the spirit of the 2014 Umbrella Movement and the voice of those low-income people. His bid was supported by four radical democrat legislators People Power's Raymond Chan, Demosisto's Nathan Law, Lau Siu-lai and Eddie Chu, while the mainstream pro-democrats cast doubt over Leung’s candidacy, believing it would contribute to the victory to Carrie Lam.

Being the only of the four candidates who had not come up with an election platform, Carrie Lam held a press conference titled "WeConnect: Manifesto Step 2" on 13 February, one day before the nomination period, to reveal some details of her manifesto, including boosting education spending to HK$5 billion, tax cut to small and medium-sized enterprises and creating more land for housing through reclamation, urban redevelopment, developing brownfield sites or country parks.

Allegations of Beijing manipulation

There were reports that central government officials had given "red light" to John Tsang running in the election and had allegedly asked John Tsang not to run for more than ten times, including rumours of him being offered the deputy governor post at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in return for not running. Tsang refuted such claims, only saying that there were "friends" who supported him and some who did not.

On 17 January, New People's Party deputy chairman Michael Tien complained the election had "lost its shape" due to the increasing interference of "an invisible hand". He revealed that many of the 1,194 Election Committee members had received phone calls asking them to nominate certain candidates. Tien did not disclose the name of the candidate backed by the invisible hand, despite the Liaison Office had reportedly informed senior editors of the local pro-Beijing newspapers that Carrie Lam was Beijing's preferred candidate and actively lobbied for Lam. The senior editors were told to "gradually devote more extensive coverage" to Lam. However, several political observers, as well as the pro-Beijing Sing Pao Daily News who has launched months-long high-profile editorial attacks on the Liaison Office, said the Liaison Office does not reflect Beijing’s wishes on the matter as the election has become part of the power struggle within the Chinese Communist Party in which the Liaison Office tries to keep its grip on Hong Kong. In late February, Sing Pao staffs began to be harassed and stalked by unknown individuals. A residence of a staff was also splashed with red paint with threatening leaflets around the staffs' homes.

Carrie Lam dismissed the speculation that the Liaison Office had been canvassing for her behind the scenes, saying that she did not see any evidence or the need for the Liaison Office to lobby for her. Lam later added that she has no power to tell the Liaison Office not to lobby the electors to vote for her in an interview. She admitted that it would be counterproductive if the public believed a "visible hand" was behind the election.

On 6 February, multiple media reports said National People's Congress (NPC) chairman Zhang Dejiang, who was also head of the Communist Party's Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, and Sun Chunlan, head of the party's United Front Work Department, were in Shenzhen to meet with some Election Committee members from the major business chambers and political groups. It was reported that Zhang told the electors that the Politburo had decided to support Carrie Lam in the election.

During the nomination period, it was reported that HKMAO director Wang Guangya told the electors at a meeting in Shenzhen that John Tsang was the contender with the least support from the central government. Few days later, Hong Kong Economic Journal cited unnamed sources that Tung Chee-hwa, former Chief Executive and vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) said in a close-door meeting that Beijing may not appoint Tsang as Chief Executive even if he wins the election. He said this was the reason he asked Carrie Lam to run in the election in order to prevent an "embarrassing situation". 30 electors of the Legal subsector in the Election Committee expressed "deep concerns" about Tung’s comments in a joint statement, stating that "such action undermines the fairness of our Chief Executive election and shows a callous disregard for the aspirations of most Hong Kong people to have free and fair elections without ignorant and insensitive interference."

Regina Ip also said in an interview that someone claiming to have close relations with Beijing had offered to compensate her with top posts at the NPC or the CPPCC if she quit the race, but she had refused.

Nominations

See also: List of members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2017–22

The nomination period runs from 14 February to 1 March 2017. A minimum number of 150 nominations from the members of the Election Committee must be subscribed in order to stand in the election.

Nominations by candidate

  Carrie Lam (48.49%)

  Woo Kwok-hing (14.99%)

  John Tsang (13.40%)

  Regina Ip (est.) (1.26%)

  Undecided (21.86%)

On 25 February, John Tsang became the first candidate to submit his nominations. Amid the alleged pressure from the Liaison Office which actively lobbied for Carrie Lam, Tsang struggled to seek nominations from the pro-Beijing camp and had to heavily rely on the pro-democrats. Liberal Party honorary chairman James Tien was one of the few pro-Beijing electors to publicly endorse John Tsang earlier on 19 January, stating that he would nominate Tsang. Liberal Party's Selina Chow and leader Chung Kwok-pan also nominated Tsang, making Liberal Party the only pro-Beijing party to nominate Tsang. Thomas Wu, son of tycoon Gordon Wu of the Hopewell Holdings, was among the only tycoon to nominate Tsang, although his father nominated Carrie Lam. Film director Derek Yee became the only elector from his subsector to nominate Tsang.

Out of the total number of 160 nominations, 125 of which came from the pro-democracy camp. Five pro-democracy electors from the High Education subsector became the first pro-democrats to nominate Tsang, followed by Democratic Action Accountants, handing 17 nominations to Tsang. On 16 February, the Democratic Party announced its seven legislators would nominate Tsang, making it the first time a pro-democratic party to nominate an establishment candidate. Pro-democrat Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) also backed Tsang with its 35 nominations from the Education and and Higher Education subsectors. The other sectors where Tsang received the most nominations included Information Technology, where he bagged 21 of the 30 nominations. He also received nearly half of the nominations from the Medical subsector. For taking pro-democrats' support, Tsang was criticised by pro-Beijing media and politicians. Tam Yiu-chung said that Tsang now clearly represented the pan-democrats while Ta Kung Pao editorial attacked Tsang for "making deal with the devils".

Woo Kwok-hing made an emergency plea for support after getting just three nominations on the first day of the nomination period. As the "Democrats 300+" planned to nominate John Tsang and Woo Kwok-hing to boost the competitiveness of the election, Woo gradually received nominations from pro-democrat electors. Six electors from the Higher Education subsector including Civic Party founding chairman Kuan Hsin-chi became the first pro-democrats decided to nominate Woo on 15 February. 46 pro-democrat members from seven Election Committee also decided to nominate Woo subsequently. After Tsang received enough nominations, pro-democrats electors turned to nominate Woo. On 27 February, Woo became the second candidate to be nominated, with 179 eligible out of 180 of nominations, almost all of them came from the pro-democracy camp.

Carrie Lam submitted a total of 579 nominations on 28 February, just 22 votes short of the final number needed to win the race. Although she was widely seen to have secured more than a minimum number of 150 nominations in the early stage, she reportedly aimed at securing more than 600 nominations to project herself as a clear winner before the secret ballot. Lam dominated in the business and politics sectors, winning three-quarters of the votes in the business sector. The pro-Beijing Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGGC) which commanded the 18-seat Commercial (Second) subsector became the first chamber to declare it would handed all its nominations to Lam on 8 January. The two pro-Beijing parties Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) and Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), which commanded over 100 votes, also endorsed Lam. However, instead of bundling their votes the two parties allowed their electors to freely nominate any candidate. Some DAB legislators did not nominate Lam at the end, including Holden Chow and Elizabeth Quat. Contrary to observers’ expectations, the Labour subsector, which is dominated by the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), also returned only five out of its 60 nominations to Lam as its legislator Wong Kwok-kin on Monday expressed reservations about Lam’s proposed labour policies.

Other political sectors such as 27-seat Heung Yee Kuk and 51-seat Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), including deputy chairman of the CK Hutchison Holdings Victor Li, also decided they would hand in all their nominations Lam, although Li's father, Hong Kong most influential tycoon Li Ka-shing had refused to back any candidate despite alleged Liaison Office's pressure. "But I would definitely cast my vote," Li said. "You would offend people by nominating [a specific candidate] but no one would know who I voted for [in the secret ballot]." Lam was expected to secure far more than enough nominations to enter the race.

In response to the controversy of not having a full election platform, Lam revealed her manifesto titled "Connecting for Consensus and A Better Future" on 27 February, one day before the nomination period ended. The platform focused on reforming the government structure and boosting the economy, including expanding the Central Policy Unit, establishing a Culture Bureau and a new Tourism Bureau and dividing Transport and Housing Bureau into two, but did not make any promise on relaunching the political reform or Article 23 legislation.

Regina Ip was expected to receive the 13 nominations from her New People's Party and a few nominations from the business sector. Few days after the nomination period opened, she revealed she had not receive enough nominations and urged "a certain candidate" not to ask for additional backing since that person had secured more than enough nominations already. Ip gained her first nomination from a pro-democrat elector from the Accountancy subsector, who wished to send Ip into the race to split Lam's votes.

Candidate	Estimated nominations	Nominators		Ref
		Blocs	Individuals
Carrie Lam	579 / 1,194 (48%)	Agriculture and Fisheries, Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (unbundled), Catering, Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong15/18, Chinese Medicine12/30, Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Confucian Academy, Culture9/15, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (unbundled), Employers' Federation of Hong Kong9/16, EP3010/15, Federation of Hong Kong Industries17/18, Finance15/18, Financial Services16/18, Heung Yee Kuk, Hong Kong Buddhist Association, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce12/18, Hong Kong Taoist Association8/10, Hotel14/17, Import and Export11/17, Insurance12/18, National People's Congress31/33, New Territories District Councils53/70, Performing Arts13/15, Real Estate and Construction16/18, Sports, Textiles and Garment14/18, Tourism11/18, Transport8/18, Wholesale and Retail16/18	Chan Chun-ying, Frank Cheng Chi-yan, Tommy Cheung, Chow Luen-kiu, Fung Tak-lee, Junius Ho, Lam King, Lam Shuk-yee, Lee Sau-king, Leung Yiu-wah, Ma Fung-kwok, Anthony Vincent Ng Wing-shun, Jimmy Ng, Shiu Ka-fai, Tam Chi-chung, Marco Wu Moon-hoi, Frankie Yick, Yiu Si-wing
Woo Kwok-hing	179 / 1,194 (15%)	Academics in Support of Democracy13/30, Civic Party (unbundled), CoVision1613/16, Demo-Social Front18/22, Democratic Action Accountants2/21, Doctors for Democracy14/19, Health Professionals for Democracy 3022/30, Hong Kong Social Workers' General Union19/20, IT Vision8/30, Land5cape 2016, Legal20/30, O Superpower, Progressive Engineering, Together for Social Welfare	Fernando Cheung, Chan Kan-tik, James Kwok Tsz-kwan, Joseph Lee, Lee Ka-lun, Shiu Ka-chun, Tsang Yuk-ting, Tung Chung-yin, Haster Wu Ka-yi, Raymond Yeung Chi-leung, Yeung Tak-yu, Yiu Chung-yim, Waiky Yiu Kwok-wai
John Tsang	160 / 1,194 (13%)	ABC.P.A, Academics in Support of Democracy16/30, CoVision163/16, Demo-Social Front3/22, Democrat Professionals Hong Kong, Democratic Action Accountants18/21, Democratic Party (unbundled), Doctors for Democracy3/19, Health Professionals for Democracy 306/30, Hearts of Accountants, Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, IT Vision21/30, Legal6/30, Professional Commons, Public Doctor HK	Fiona Chan Ho-yan, Chan Kin-yung, Pierre Chan, Chan Tong-sang, Ricky Chim Kim-lun, Choi Kin, Selina Chow, Charles Chu Sai-ping, Chung Kwok-pan, Ho Pak-leung, Ronnie Ho Pak-ting, Ip Hing-cheung, Kwan Ka-lun, Lee Yu-ming, Leung Ka-lau, Luk Wang-kwong, Mak Suet-ching, Man Ka-leung, Jason Shum Jiu-sang, James Tien, Tsui Luen-on, Wan Siu-fai, Thomas Jefferson Wu, Derek Yee, Yim Shun-see, Banny Yu Yuen-mau
Regina Ip	15 / 1,194 (1%)	New People's Party	Chan Chun-tung, Ho Chun-hung, Shum Wan-lung

Pro-democrats' civil nomination

The pro-democrat group Citizens United in Action which was formed to promote Occupy Central initiator Benny Tai's "ThunderGo" plan in the 2016 Legislative Council election launched the "CE Civil Referendum 2017" to engage the Hong Kong people who had no vote in the election. It conducts a "civil nomination" from 7 to 22 February with the University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme (HKUPOP) and the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University online. Any candidate that secures 37,790, one per cent of Hong Kong's registered voters, form the general public would be a "civil candidate" in which a "civil referendum" would be held from 10 to 19 March. On 13 February, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data issued a statement concerning the "existing privacy risks" of the organisers collecting personal data. In response to that, the organisers updated their system afterward and extended the nomination period until 28 February.

On 25 February, Leung Kwok-hung who pledged to only enter the race if he received enough civil nominations announced he would not run for the Chief Executive, as he only secured 20,234 nominations from the general public, about 17,000 fewer than the threshold. Among the 20,234 nominations, 13,440 were collected in public while the rest of them online. Leung stated that he being able to collect more than 20,000 nominations with personal contact information and identity card numbers had proved that "civil nomination" is achievable.

Opinion polling

Date(s) conducted	Polling source	Sample size	CY Leung	Carrie Lam	John Tsang	Jasper Tsang	Regina Ip	KH Woo	KH Leung	Antony Leung	Norman Chan	Audrey Eu	Frederick Ma	Bernard Chan	Others	Don't know/ None of above/ Abstain
15–25 Feb 2017	HKRA	1,532	-	36%	35%	-	6%	14%	-	-	-	-	-	-	3%	6%
20–24 Feb 2017	MP/HKUPOP	1,007	-	32.3%	39.2%	-	7.1%	11.9%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9.5%
14–18 Feb 2017	nowTV/LUPGP	1,010	-	29.4%	39.2%	-	5.9%	9.7%	2.6%	-	-	-	-	-	-	13.1%
2–8 Feb 2017	SCMP/CCPOS	~1,000	-	28.2%	42.5%	-	5.6%	8.7%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15.0%
24 Jan–8 Feb 2017	HKRA	1,856	-	35%	36%	-	8%	13%	-	-	-	-	-	-	3%	5%
1–4 Feb 2017	nowTV/LUPGP	1,023	-	25.0%	41.7%	-	5.9%	8.7%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18.7%
19–24 Jan 2017	MP/HKUPOP	1,006	-	35.3%	38.0%	-	7.3%	10.1%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9.3%
18–20, 23–24 Jan 2017	HKEJ/CCPOS	1,036	-	30.9%	33.5%	7.2%	6.4%	8.1%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13.9%
11–18 Jan 2017	HKRA	1,048	-	26%	30%	16%	6%	5%	-	-	-	-	-	-	4%	13%
12–15 Jan 2017	nowTV/LUPGP	1,103	-	22.0%	31.3%	7.7%	5.4%	12.0%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	21.6%
4–10 Jan 2017	SCMP/CCPOS	1,024	-	23.2%	27.6%	7.9%	9.7%	12.6%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19.0%
16–20 Dec 2016	nowTV/LUPGP	1,007	-	20.2%	26.6%	8.0%	10.7%	11.5%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23.0%
12–16 Dec 2016	HKEJ/CCPOS	1,032	-	23.9%	32.6%	7.6%	6.6%	11.4%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18.0%
5–6 Dec 2016	HK01/HKUPOP	516	6.9%	10.8%	30.0%	13.9%	6.1%	8.4%	-	5.8%	0.5%	-	-	-	4.5%	13.1%
24–29 Nov 2016	nowTV/LUPGP	1,052	9.7%	8.3%	28.0%	10.7%	6.2%	9.8%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	27.3%
28 Oct–2 Nov 2016	nowTV/LUPGP	1,020	7.9%	8.3%	28.1%	9.7%	6.7%	12.2%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	26.5%
26 Oct–2 Nov 2016	HKEJ/CCPOS	1,005	9.5%	10.3%	28.4%	11.4%	8.4%	13.5%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18.5%
3–5 Oct 2016	Initium/CCPOS	521	10.5%	11.6%	32.4%	11.8%	5.1%	-	-	14.1%	-	-	-	-	-	14.5%
26–27 Sep 2016	HK01/HKUPOP	513	10.9%	12.3%	28.6%	10.4%	3.8%	-	-	7.1%	0.6%	-	-	-	7.5%	19.0%
23 Jan 2016	HK01/HKUPOP	522	8%	16%	20%	5%	5%	-	-	8%	0%	11%	3%	1%	2%	19%

Two-way contest

Date(s) conducted	Polling source	Sample size	Carrie Lam	John Tsang	Don't know/ None of above/ Abstain
14–18 Feb 2017	nowTV/LUPGP	1,010	33.0%	53.6%	13.4%
1–4 Feb 2017	nowTV/LUPGP	1,023	31.2%	53.6%	15.3%
18–20, 23–24 Jan 2017	HKEJ/CCPOS	1,036	39.9%	48.7%	11.5%

Election

The election will be held on 26 March 2017.

See also

• 2014 Hong Kong protests
• Democratic development in Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Chief Executive election, 2012
• Hong Kong Election Committee Subsector elections, 2016
• Hong Kong legislative election, 2016

External links

Government websites

• The Fifth Chief Executive Election Official Website
• Electoral Affairs Commission Official Website

Campaign websites

• Regina Ip's Official Campaign Website
• Carrie Lam's Official Campaign Website
• John Tsang's Official Campaign Website
• Woo Kwok-hing's Official Campaign Website

Election platforms

• Regina Ip's Election Platform
• Carrie Lam's Election Platform
• John Tsang's Election Platform
• Woo Kwok-hing's Election Platform