Unlike Lam, who has not promised any specific numbers in housing supply, her arch-rival John Tsang Chun-wah has come under fire for making unrealistic promises. The former financial chief was forced to clarify that his target of putting 60 per cent of the city’s population in public housing was only a “long-term goal”, after officials queried the figure in light of land supply.

The aspirants should also resist bowing to sectoral interests. During talks with the rural affairs body the Heung Yee Kuk, none of the contestants spoke against the much-criticised small-house policy or the prevalence of illegal structures in village houses. The former gives an indigenous male villager the right to build a three-storey villa; the latter is a challenge for law enforcement. Some aspirants even promised to consider building small houses and government-subsidised Home Ownership Scheme flats together under a so-called mixed-development model. The idea has serious implications. Not only will it affect the interests of those applying for subsidised housing, it effectively entrenches an outdated policy that should have long ago been scrapped.