The former chief secretary said yesterday that while she recognised the need to boost her popularity, she would stay the person she was when campaigning.

“It would sound odd if you did something you wouldn’t normally do,” she said. “I’d like to do something of which I have a track record, such as visiting people in the community with whom I have maintained contact for years.”

Lam moved yesterday to a Wan Chai unit but said she found at midnight it had no toilet paper. “When I went to a nearby convenience store, I realised that they didn’t sell toilet paper ... so I had to return to my official residence,” she said.

Lam said she would try her best to protect her family’s privacy during her leadership bid. Her husband Lam Siu-por, a mathematician, and her younger son, a student in the US, would not join in her election efforts.

She added that her elder son, now working on the mainland, would be the only family member possibly willing to take up a campaign role.

Meanwhile, former commerce minister Frederick Ma Si-hang said he believed all four candidates in the Hong Kong leadership race were “capable, accountable and devoted”.