Taiwan Minxin Poll: Lai and Lu Lose Ground! Political Figure Approval Rankings Revealed — She Tops with 60.1% Support

The political figure approval ranking in Taiwan has been released! Taiwan Minxin Survey today (25th) announced its latest public opinion poll for August 2026. Among 11 major political figures, former President Tsai Ing-wen ranked first with a 60.1% approval rating. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai followed with 54.4%, ranking second, while Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim came third with 51.7%. President Lai Ching-te ranked fourth with 48.3%.

Notably, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an secured 47.8%, placing fifth and achieving the highest approval among opposition political figures.

The Taiwan Minxin Survey asked respondents, "Do you have a favorable impression of the following political figures?" using a multiple-response format without limit. The rankings of the 11 figures are as follows: Tsai Ing-wen 60.1%, Chen Chi-mai 54.4%, Hsiao Bi-khim 51.7%, Lai Ching-te 48.3%, Chiang Wan-an 47.8%, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu 43.4%, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen 42.3%, former Taiwan People's Party Chair Ko Wen-je 25.4%, TPP Chair Huang Kuo-chang 20.9%, KMT Chair Chang Li-wen 19.8%, and KMT Legislative Caucus Convener Fu Kun-chi 9.7%. Those without a clear response accounted for 7.4%.

By party distribution, the top four positions were all occupied by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) figures: Tsai Ing-wen, Chen Chi-mai, Hsiao Bi-khim, and Lai Ching-te. Among the Kuomintang (KMT), Chiang Wan-an ranked highest at fifth, followed by Han Kuo-yu and Lu Shiow-yen in sixth and seventh place, respectively. For the Taiwan People's Party, Ko Wen-je ranked eighth with 25.4%, and Huang Kuo-chang ninth with 20.9%.

Among independent voters, Tsai Ing-wen led with 52.3% approval, followed by Chiang Wan-an at 46.2%, Lu Shiow-yen at 40.5%, Hsiao Bi-khim at 39.9%, and Chen Chi-mai at 39.2%. In other words, among the top five in independent voter favorability, both KMT's Chiang Wan-an and Lu Shiow-yen ranked in the top three.

Among younger demographics, the top five favored figures among 20- to 29-year-olds were Tsai Ing-wen (67.6%), Chen Chi-mai (55.0%), Chiang Wan-an (51.0%), Hsiao Bi-khim (48.9%), and Lai Ching-te (44.6%). For 30- to 39-year-olds, the order was Tsai Ing-wen (59.0%), Chen Chi-mai (52.7%), Hsiao Bi-khim (49.8%), Lai Ching-te (37.9%), and Chiang Wan-an (37.6%).

By political alignment, pan-green supporters showed 93.2% favorability toward Tsai Ing-wen, followed by Chen Chi-mai (88.5%), Lai Ching-te (88.4%), and Hsiao Bi-khim (86.6%). Han Kuo-yu ranked fifth with 23.7%. Among pan-blue supporters, Chiang Wan-an led with 88.4%, followed by Lu Shiow-yen (83.9%) and Han Kuo-yu (79.7%). Chang Li-wen (53.1%) and Huang Kuo-chang (45.7%) followed.

The survey was designed and analyzed by Tai Li-an, with telephone interviews conducted by Bekin Market Research. It covered residents aged 20 and above across Taiwan’s 22 counties and cities, conducted from August 19 to 21, 2026, with 1,076 valid responses (699 via landline, 377 via mobile). At a 95% confidence level, the maximum sampling error is ±3.0 percentage points.