Despite criticism from the public and fellow lawmakers alike for his banana-throwing antics during the chief executive's policy address, Wong Yuk-man has made the list of top 10 lawmakers in the first survey of current Legco members.
The chairman of the League of Social Democrats came ninth, one place ahead of Leung Kwok-hung, his party colleague, in the latest table compiled by the University of Hong Kong. But their nemesis, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, beat them at fifth.
Mrs Ip, a newly elected lawmaker from the Hong Kong Island constituency, scored 53.5 marks compared with Mr Wong's 43.3 marks, with 100 points being 'absolute support' and 50 'half-half'.
The survey, conducted between October 17 and 24 among 1,018 respondents, is the first on lawmakers elected in September. Mrs Ip and Mr Wong are the only newly elected lawmakers in the top 10.
During Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's policy address on October 15, Mr Wong threw a bunch of bananas across the chamber to protest against a suggestion of a means-tested old-age allowance without any promise of an increase. The chief executive made a U-turn on the policy nine days later. Mrs Ip has become chairwoman of a subcommittee scrutinising the foreign domestic helpers' levy and will submit an amendment for its abolition.
The biggest winners in the survey were Civic Party leader Audrey Eu Yuet-mee - who replaced former Legco president Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai in the top slot - and the Democratic Party's Fred Li Wah-ming, who came in second.