'This will be a territory-wide, referendum-styled election,' said Albert Ho Chun-yan, chairman of the Democratic Party whose proposal for the new electoral method was adopted by the government during the constitutional reform debate.

'Rather than voting for individual candidates, people will be voting for visions and ideals put forth by political parties.

'The mandate behind these lawmakers will be immense.'

All five lawmakers are to be returned by the whole of Hong Kong as one single constituency - and with each securing as much as 20 per cent of the total vote, all can claim they have a far stronger mandate than the chief executive, who is chosen by only 1,200 people.

For most people, it will mean an additional vote to the one they have in geographical constituencies.

The Democrats took a big gamble by supporting the government's political reform in June and faced critics for giving away too much for what they said was only a small opening up of franchise.

The new five out of 35 trade-based seats - with just over 230,000 voters - were seen as too small a step towards universal suffrage.

What people can at least expect are more vibrant election campaigns. Instead of focusing on interests specific to individual districts, these candidates - serving members of district councils - need to appeal to the hearts and minds of the city's population with broader visions.

Alan Leong Kah-kit, of the Civic Party, agrees there will be more room for candidates to attract voters because of the wider electorate base.

He said candidates of the pan-democratic camp could run on a shared platform with the focus on a demand to abolish functional constituencies in the legislature when universal suffrage was introduced.

The new style of election also gave rise to suggestions the seats should be contested by party leaders or leading political stars who have territory-wide recognition and popularity. The Democratic Party and the Democratic Alliance for Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong are both considering this route.

But it also presents a new opportunity as a fast-route to stardom for lesser-known or aspiring politicians with party support. 'We're not ruling out giving young candidates a try. After all, they might shoot to stardom in one go,' Ho said.

Running successful election campaigns needs money, and with the government's plan to raise the campaign spending cap for 'the super-candidates' to HK$6 million, concerns have been raised that only the large political parties or tycoons with deep pockets can afford to join the race. The much-enlarged budget can guarantee voters will see the faces of candidates on billboards on every street corner.

The way the government conducted its 'Act-now' campaign drive in June to push for constitutional reform may be an indication of what future electioneering will look like.

During the campaign, which had a HK$9 million budget, the chief executive led ministers to hand out flyers on the streets.

By this standard, even if TV advertisements and radio broadcasts are excluded, it can still cost up to HK$6 million to run a city-wide campaign involving billboards, print materials and publicity posters. The pan-democrats fear that the higher sum will, in reality, bar many who cannot afford it from running.

But Ip Kwok-him, of the DAB, said money would not be an issue since most political groups would already be running campaigns in each of the five regions for candidates in geographical constituency races.

'When the geographical candidates are canvassing for support, they can just ask people to vote for their 'super-lawmakers' as well,' Ip said. 'Printing an extra face on the billboards and posters will be all that is required. It works out cheaper.'

While larger parties will find it relatively easy to mobilise support on every street, for independents or those with smaller party backing, finding the massive resources required to woo 3.2 million voters remains a major concern.

Everyone can choose

The five lawmakers are to be returned by Hong Kong as one constituency

This constituency will entitle this number of electors to cast their votes: 3.2m