Hong Kong’s “Queen of Votes” Christine Fong Kwok-shan ran one of the most cost-effective campaigns in the Legislative Council election, spending an average of just HK$20 per vote, the South China Morning Post has found.

An SCMP review of the election spending declarations by 32 candidates who contested directly elected seats also found that some candidates spent up to 10 times more than others in terms of average cost per vote, with Jeffrey Chan Chun-hung from local think tank the PoD Research Institute forking out more than HK$200 per vote.

The declarations were made public on Wednesday.

Fong, who received 58,828 votes in the New Territories South East constituency, the highest among all candidates, spent about HK$1.2 million (US$152,000) on her campaign.

The veteran Sai Kung district councillor spent most of her budget on advertising, including leaflets and banners, which came to HK$933,000. She also spent HK$105,000 on office rent and transport, and paid roughly HK$65,000 to her election agents and assistants.

Her victory, after five previous unsuccessful attempts, marked a major political comeback. Fong earlier described it as “the fruit of accumulated efforts rather than a miracle”.