[SINGAPORE] With the conclusion of the 2025 General Election (GE) on Sunday (May 4), the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) finds itself at a political crossroads.
The opposition party founded by veteran Dr Tan Cheng Bock in 2019 went from nearly winning a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in GE2020 to having no parliamentary presence at all this time.
It failed to win any of the constituencies it contested, with its vote share eroding from 41 per cent in the last election to 36 per cent this time around. It also did not perform strongly enough to retain the seats of its two Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) – Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa.
The outcome appears to have taken the party by surprise. It cancelled a post-results press conference midway through the release of sample-count votes and issued a statement after the final results were announced in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
In the statement, the party’s fiery secretary-general Leong was unusually subdued.
“We are shocked by the results,” he said. “We will study seriously and humbly our failure, and reconsider how we can gain further trust from Singaporeans. We may need to review our strategy and regroup ourselves to fight another day.”
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
With no voice in Parliament and the 85-year-old Dr Tan declaring this his last election, the PSP’s future now hangs in the balance.
An uphill battle
The PSP’s prospects once looked promising. In GE2020, it had come within striking distance of winning West Coast GRC, a strong showing that captured public attention.
The party’s NCMPs kept PSP in the public eye with their persistent questioning on hot-button issues such as immigration and housing. Leong, in particular, stood out for his combative style in Parliament.
When former transport minister S Iswaran, then anchor minister for West Coast, was convicted and jailed last October, it seemed like the PSP might finally have a chance to make greater electoral inroads.
However, the redrawing of West Coast’s electoral boundaries earlier this year to absorb Jurong West and Taman Jurong appear to have significantly blunted PSP’s chances.
Taman Jurong, previously in Jurong GRC, had been under the stewardship of Tharman Shanmugaratnam – one of the People Action Party’s (PAP) most popular politicians – until he stepped down to become Singapore’s president in 2023.
Leong himself had described the election as an “uphill battle” for PSP after the new boundaries were announced in April.
A missed opportunity
Ahead of Nomination Day, it seemed like the PSP would maximise its chance to enter Parliament by fielding one of its NCMPs in a single-seat ward. Poa said that she was willing to stand in a Single-Member Constituency (SMC) to “walk my talk”.
Yet, both Poa and Leong eventually joined Dr Tan in contesting the new West Coast-Jurong West GRC, saying it was their way of thanking West Coast voters.
While admirable, the decision feels like a missed opportunity for the party.
Deploying an NCMP to an SMC while allowing Dr Tan to helm the GRC fight could have increased their chances of securing a seat.
The PSP’s campaign strategy was also subdued, with the party choosing to focus on ground engagement rather than heavy social media campaigns or open salvos with its PAP counterparts.
Yet, as recently as Apr 25, Leong admitted that his team’s biggest challenge was engaging Taman Jurong residents, which it had only begun to do two months ago.
The party also held significantly fewer rallies than other opposition parties. PSP held three rallies over the nine-day campaign compared with five by the Workers’ Party and eight by the Singapore Democratic Party.
With much new ground to cover, more rallies or media engagement could have helped to raise the party’s profile among a new segment of voters, especially within the redrawn constituency where it stood the best chance.
What next?
The PSP will struggle to remain relevant to voters without its vocal MPs, especially Leong, in Parliament. With Dr Tan declaring this his last election, the party can also no longer fall back on him to win votes in the next election – if it is still around.
If it is to continue existing, it will have to move beyond being a “Tan Cheng Bock” party. Instead, it needs to ensure that it is identified by its values and positions on issues of concern, including its “Singaporeans first” stance.
Without Parliament as a platform to showcase its candidates, it will also have to double its efforts on ground engagement with voters in the next five years or risk being forgotten.
Otherwise, GE2025 may not just mark a setback. It could be the end of the road for PSP.
For more election coverage, visit our GE2025 microsite
