CY Leung's credibility gap yawns as even allies cool on him

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's approval rating has sunk to a new low, and a record high proportion of people are unhappy with the performance of his administration, according to the latest round of a Chinese University tracking poll.

Only 15.8 per cent of respondents were satisfied with the performance of Leung's administration, and 37 per cent of people said they do not trust the government.

Leung's rating is the worst since he succeeded Donald Tsang Yam-kuen as chief executive last July.

Pollsters attributed the poor scores partly to the recent controversy over Secretary for Development Paul Chan Mo-po's land interests.

And Beijing-friendly legislator Wong Kwok-hing, of the Federation of Trade Unions, told Leung not to expect much help from the pro-establishment camp with either Chan's land issue or his dwindling credibility.

Conducted early last week by the university's Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, the telephone poll interviewed 840 people, achieved a response rate of 45.4 per cent, and had sampling error of plus or minus 3.38 per cent.