Singapore's ruling centre-right People's Action Party (PAP) won the May 3 general election (GE2025), gaining 65.5% — a swing of 4.3% from the 2020 GE result. PAP won 87 out of the 97 parliamentary seats.
While this outcome was expected, the vote share told a different story.
The PAP government, which has ruled since 1959, used various tactics to cripple the opposition parties and maintain its supermajority, in the lead up to GE2025. Gerrymandering, conveniently-timed subsidies and vouchers for citizens and control of the mainstream media were just some examples.
Gerrymanders and handouts
Electorates are divided into Single Member Constituencies (SMC) and Group Representative Constituencies (GRC) where the parties must stand teams of 3–5 people.
Ostensibly marketed as ensuring minority representation, in practice the GRC system is used to disadvantage opposition parties and parachute new and unpopular candidates into GRCs that are calculated as being "safe".
Meanwhile, the PAP gerrymanders the country’s electoral boundaries to its advantage. Often SMCs are absorbed into GRCs, or SMCs are carved out of GRCs. This process is carried out by Singapore's Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), which is convened by the Prime Minister's Office.
Singapore’s Online Citizen website reported on May 4 that the EBRC released its report on the new electoral boundaries less than two months before polling day, which resulted in GRCs such as Marine Parade-Braddell Heights being redrawn with awkward and peculiar borders. This change left little time and almost no recourse for opposition parties to reorganise their campaigns.
These newly created areas merged dissimilar neighbourhoods into unfamiliar blocks. Along with drawing a popular candidate from a neighbouring SMC, the redrawn electoral boundaries led the social democratic Workers Party (WP) to withdraw from contesting Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC, leading to a PAP walkover. This was much to the disappointment of many residents who had hoped for continued opposition presence.
Among the organisations that have been embedded into the lives of everyday Singaporeans are the People's Association (PA), the Residents' Committee (RC), and the National Trade Unions Congress (NTUC), which are managed by public funds.
When PAP candidates lose an electoral contest, they are given the title of "Grassroots Adviser" in opposition constituencies where they claim credit for community activities organised by the PA and RC and control community centres throughout the country. This enables the PAP to link the activities of their PA, RC and grassroots leaders to the PAP government and ensure political loyalty from Singaporeans.
A key example of how the PAP was able to use its control of these institutions to their advantage was the recent rollout of heavily subsidised “S$1 deals”, such as cheap hawker meals, eggs, public transport rebates and basic health check-ups. These handouts were distributed through grassroots channels and town council communications, with ruling party members often acting as the public faces of these schemes.
While claiming these measures are meant to ease cost-of living burdens, the timing of these schemes came suspiciously close to the general election announcement. The timing of the handouts aligned conspicuously with the election campaign and is believed to have helped the PAP increase its vote share.
Speaking to The Online Citizen on May 4, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) spokesperson Dr Paul Tambyah said that while many Singaporeans supported the opposition they felt compelled to vote for the PAP, saying “We like you. We think Singapore needs to change. But frankly, I need that $1 deal.”
By doing this the PAP has been able to offer immediate relief while framing political alternatives as risky.
Democratic space
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who took over in May last year, also used PAP’s control of the media to tout the importance of strong and stable government and conduct fear mongering about rising geopolitical tensions and their potential effects on Singapore.
In the run up to GE2025 PAP candidates were not subjected to the same level of scrutiny in debates and media coverage as opposition parties. For example, PAP candidates were given four minutes to answer questions in round-table discussions and debates, while opposition candidates only got one minute, while being endlessly fact-checked and scrutinised.
Meanwhile, mainstream newspaper, the Straits Times, targeted the WP with feature spreads on GRCs that the WP were holding onto or threatening to wrest from the PAP. These were biased in favour of the PAP.
While the PAP will claim that this election has given it a strong mandate, the reality is a lot more complicated, with the results showing that the country is divided.
While the PAP brand is recognisable, most Singaporeans aren’t aware of the opposition parties. The WP, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP) concentrated their campaigning efforts in the country’s east, west and north, respectively.
The PAP’s political strategy was effective, and it gained more than 75% of the vote in some constituencies. It also improved its performance against opposition candidates in most of the country, except the east.
This was a bitter pill to swallow for the opposition parties, especially the SDP and PSP, which have been working on the ground for years.
Workers Party
In the east, the WP — with a reputation for being a credible and responsible opposition party — held onto their existing seats of Hougang SMC, Aljunied GRC and Sengkang GRC. However, the party was unable to win any new GRCs and SMCs, losing in close contests with the PAP by a small margin.
In Hougang SMC — which the WP has held since 1991 — Dennis Tan gained 62%, a 1% increase from 2020. In Aljunied GRC, headed by WP Secretary-General and Opposition leader Pritam Singh, the WP gained more than 59% of the vote. The WP also managed to defend the Sengkang GRC — which it won in 2020 — increasing its vote from 52% to 56%.
The WP also managed to gain more than 40% of the vote in the four other GRCs and SMCs it ran in, with its most notable results being 48.53% in Jalan Kayu SMC and 47.37 % in Tampines. These two results were the highest runner up tallies, giving the WP two non-constituency members of parliament (NCMPs) and 10 MPs, making them the only opposition party in the parliament.
Long-time SDP stalwart Chee Soon Juan managed to gain 46.81% in Sembawang SMC, narrowly missing out on the second NCMP seat. The highest vote for the PSP was 39.99% in the West Coast-Jurong GRC. However, they lost both the NCMP seats that they gained at the 2020 general election and suffered a 4.89% swing against them.
A notable result was that of independent candidates Jeremy Tan and Daryl Lo who campaigned extensively on social media and at the grassroots. Tan gained 36.16% in Mountbatten SMC, the highest vote for an independent candidate since 1972. Meanwhile, Lo gained 23.47% in Radin Mas SMC. In an interview with Online Citizen on May 7 both candidates vowed to remain active in political discourse and community engagement.
The election results reveal a few things. PM Lawrence Wong will be able to claim the result vindicates his call for a strong mandate in uncertain times. Secondly, the PAP brand is recognisable and was useful in an election that was largely about branding rather than the calibre of candidates. Thirdly, younger voters, while espousing the desire for a robust parliament, are willing to compromise their idealism in times of perceived hardship.
The PAP’s appeal for a strong mandate gained it a 4.3% swing, while the WP maintained its status as the official opposition. While the WP held its ground, for all the opposition parties the election was a setback, with no other opposition parties able to enter Parliament.
Reacting to the disappointment about the election outcome, Singaporean activist Elijah Tay told Green Left he shared the frustrations of many Singaporeans and said: “But democracy cannot and will never exist solely at the ballot box.
“Every day, the PAP gets involved in our lives — when we spend $7 on chicken rice, when we work overtime without pay, when housing prices rise to the millions — that is the PAP exercising their power over us.”
Tay encouraged people to continue to remain active: “I hope that you will give yourselves the permission to keep these feelings and actions alive beyond these two weeks; I hope to see you at grassroots rallies, such as the upcoming independent Labour Day Rally on 25 May, and I hope to organise with you on the ground.”