[SINGAPORE] The People’s Action Party (PAP) has been returned to power with 65.57 per cent of the vote, with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong seeing an improved vote share in his first general election at the helm.
The ruling party claimed 87 out of 97 seats – four more than the previous term – as the opposition Workers’ Party (WP) retained all its existing seats but made no new gains.
Of the 2,627,026 registered electors, 92.47 per cent voted in Singapore – making this a record low turnout.
The WP will continue to have 10 seats in the new Parliament: from its strongholds Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC, as well as Sengkang GRC, which it will hold for a second term.
With only 10 elected opposition MPs, this means that two spots for Non-Constituency Members of Parliament remain.
Offered to the “best losers” of each GE, these will likely be offered to the WP’s Andre Low, who took 48.53 per cent in Jalan Kayu SMC; and one member on WP’s slate in Tampines GRC, which earned 47.37 per cent of the vote.
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The election result marks a 4.34 percentage-point swing towards the PAP from GE2020, for a decisive victory in what has been seen as a referendum on PM Wong’s performance since he took the top job a year ago.
PM Wong bucks the trend with this positive swing. Previous prime ministers – Goh Chok Tong and Lee Hsien Loong – saw lower vote shares in their first electoral outings, compared to the preceding GEs.
At a post-results press conference in the early hours of Sunday, PM Wong said the results will put Singapore “in a better position to face this turbulent world”.
The international media, investors and foreign governments are watching the election closely, and will see the results as “a clear signal of trust, stability and confidence” in the PAP government, he said.
Stability vs diversity
Over the course of the nine-day hustings, PAP leaders campaigned on the need for a strong and stable government to steer Singapore through the global economic uncertainty and escalating trade tensions, in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s onslaught of tariffs.
In particular, PAP heavyweights came out en masse to stress the importance of Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who was moved from Chua Chu Kang GRC at the eleventh hour to anchor the PAP team in Punggol GRC.
PM Wong and his colleagues had appealed to voters to consider DPM Gan’s contribution as Singapore’s “task force man”, having co-chaired the Covid-19 multi-ministry taskforce and now, the tariff inter-ministerial committee.
DPM Gan led his team to victory with 55.17 per cent, against a WP team of newcomers that included “star catch” senior counsel Harpreet Singh.
The opposition, meanwhile, highlighted the need for a plurality of voices to serve as checks and balances against the government, even as they stressed that they have no desire – or capacity – to form the next government.
New highs
Notably, Tanjong Pagar GRC saw the highest ever vote share for the PAP in a group representation constituency since these were created in 1988, at 81.03 per cent.
This was one of three constituencies where the PAP secured over 80 per cent of the vote – a feat not seen since 2001, when then-PAP candidate Tan Cheng Bock took 87.96 per cent of the vote in Ayer Rajah SMC.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua was PAP’s best performing candidate with 81.12 per cent of the vote in Queenstown SMC, against People’s Alliance for Reform candidate Mahaboob Batcha.
Coming second was Xie Yao Quan, who took 80.51 per cent in Jurong Central SMC, defeating Red Dot United candidate Kala Manickam.
PM Wong, who led a team in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC against the Singapore Democratic Party, scored above the national average at 73.46 per cent – an improvement of 10.28 percentage points from GE2020.
Close fights
PAP’s vote share increased in most of the wards it won, while the WP increased its margins in some seats – but saw its overall vote share in contested seats fall to 48.69 per cent, from 50.49 per cent in GE2020.
The WP fielded 26 candidates this election, across five GRCs and three SMCs. Its greatest improvement was in Sengkang GRC, where it took 56.31 per cent in its second victory there, up 4.19 percentage points from GE2020.
In its traditional strongholds, its vote share edged up 0.96 percentage point to 62.17 per cent in Hougang SMC, but dipped a marginal 0.27 percentage point to 59.68 per cent in Aljunied GRC.
Jalan Kayu SMC saw a particularly close fight, with labour chief and former minister Ng Chee Meng getting just 806 more votes than his WP opponent, newcomer Low.
Ng’s victory marks his political comeback, after serving one term in government but then losing to the WP in Sengkang GRC in GE2020.
In the four-cornered fight for Tampines GRC, the PAP won 52.02 per cent of the vote, fending off WP – which took 47.37 per cent despite being new to the constituency.
The National Solidarity Party, which had contested in Tampines GRC since 2011, took just 0.18 per cent of the votes – the lowest in history. The People’s Power Party took 0.43 per cent.
In Sembawang West SMC, Singapore Democratic Party secretary-general Chee Soon Juan scored his best ever performance at 46.81 per cent of the vote.
But ultimately, as the third-best loser, he could not fulfil his lifelong dream – spanning over three decades – of entering Parliament, whether as an elected MP or an NCMP.
The Progress Singapore Party (PSP), which had two NCMPs in Parliament as the “best loser” in GE2020, had a disappointing run this election, with its A-team in West Coast-Jurong West GRC securing just 39.99 per cent of the votes.
In a statement, PSP chief and NCMP Leong Mun Wai said the party is “shocked” by the results and will reconsider how it can “gain further trust from Singaporeans”.
The party’s overall vote share, across the 13 seats it contested, was 36.25 per cent.
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