Federation of Students now Hong Kong’s most popular political group, poll finds

The Federation of Students is the city's most popular and best-known political group, according to a University of Hong Kong poll carried out amid pro-democracy street protests that the federation has been leading.

The poll, conducted from October 20 to 23, found 89.2 per cent of 1,013 people knew of the group and gave it an average support rating of 47.7 points out of 100.

But in a poll by Polytechnic University, nearly three-quarters of respondents felt that now was the right time to stop the civil disobedience action. Nearly half wanted the campaign to end because they said it had affected the economy and livelihoods.

The prolonged protests have apparently dragged down the pan-democratic and pro-establishment camps, with every political group except the federation recording drops in popularity in the HKU poll.

"All political groups have become losers in the Occupy movement," said Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, head of the HKU public opinion programme.

The federation's poll showing was remarkable, considering it had never ranked among the 12 most recognised political groups before - and so had never had its popularity rated.