After the 7.1 March, those political groups that supported the legislation of Article 23, like the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) became the big losers. Both the DAB and the FTU dropped by 6.7 and 5.1 points respectively. The FTU dropped out of the first three, from second to fourth, while the DAB dropped to eighth, the lowest of all political groups.

      The survey was carried out by the Public Opinion Programme at the University of Hong Kong and 1,032 people were interviewed between August 18 and 20.

      The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions topped the list of the 10 most popular political groups in Hong Kong with a rating of 51.3 points. The Democratic Party ranked third with 50.1 points.

      The Liberal Party has emerged as the second most popular group, from sixth position in May, according to the opinion poll. Programme director Robert Chung said Liberal Party chairman James Tien's resignation from the Executive Council in July had been a turning point in halting legislation for the proposed National Security Bill. "Mr. Tien was taken as a hero and the Liberal Party has ridden on his popularity," said he.