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CWA # 1670
Global Politics Early Bird
Singapore Elections in 2025:
People’s Action Party (PAP) Wins, Again
The election results should consolidate the position of PM Wong and the succession question

  Fleur Elizabeth Philip
6 May 2025

In the 2025 Singapore general elections held on 3 May 2025, the PAP has won 87 and the opposition party Workers’ Party, bagged 10 seats of the total 97 seats. Though the voter turnout (out of the total 2.7 million plus voters) was around 92 per cent, in Singapore standards, it is considered the lowest; it was around 95 and 93 per cent respectively during the last two elections in 2020 and 2015.

PM Lawrence Wong was quote saying after the win: “I am deeply humbled and grateful for the results. Singaporeans have given the PAP a clear and strong mandate to govern.”

What is the electoral system, and what where the major issues in 2025?
General elections in Singapore are held every five years for its unicameral legislature. There are 97 elected seats classified into 14 Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) and 17 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). Every SMC includes one MP, and every GRC includes three to six MPs, who must have one minority member from the Malay, the Indian, or any other minor community. The 14th Parliament was dissolved on 15 April 2025.

The People’s Action Party (PAP) has been ruling for the longest time; however, succession was one of the questions for the party. The elections was seen as an approval to Lawrence Wong; he was elected as the party’s General Secretary in 2024, and succeeded Lee Hsien Loong as Singapore’s PM in May 2024. During the election campaign, he stressed on stability and continuity of the cabinet. Cost of living, US-China rivalry and its fallouts, the need to deal with US and China were some of the major issues discussed during the election campaign.

Who are the key actors?
In the General Elections in 2025 (GE 2025), 11 parties contested including the two major parties - the People’s Action Party, led by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and the Workers' Party led by Pritam Singh. Other parties include, the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), Red Dot United (RDU), People’s Power Party (PPP), Singapore People’s Party (SPP), National Solidarity Party (NSP), Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), and the People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR).

The PAP was founded in November 1954 by Lee Kuan Yew, along with Toh Chin Chye, S. Rajaratnam, and Goh Keng Swee. The party aimed at creating a broad anti-colonial front, which included moderates and pro-communist leftists. Since 1980, the PAP has dominated every election until the 2025 elections. In every election, the PAP has secured more than 90 per cent of the seats in Parliament.

The Workers’ Party is the major social democratic party, which was founded by David Marshall on 03 November 1957. It is one of the three parties that represent the Parliament, along with the People’s Action Party and the Progress Singapore Party.

What next?
The election results should consolidate the position of PM Wong and the succession question. The party fielded many new young faces in the elections, with more than one third being women.

The PAP, in the next five years, plans to provide financial support for up to SGD 6000, over six months, for the unemployed. Give household vouchers, cash payout options for those that need help with living expenses, add 13,600 beds to the healthcare, and build an additional 50,000 public housing flats to ease the supply crunch. Furthermore, they plan to address the US tariffs imposed upon Singapore, which is 10 per cent blanket tariffs, due to the free trade agreement. According to PM Wong, a task force is created, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry Kim Yong. The task force will include representatives for Singaporean economic agencies, the Business Federation, and the National Trade Union Congress.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first of the leaders to congratulate the leader on his win. He further commented on the multifaceted partnership between the two countries.

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a statement congratulating Lawrence Wong and his victory in the 2025 General elections. He emphasizes the relationship between the US and Singapore for its strong partnership, a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, and looks forward to working closely and strengthening the economic relationship and bilateral defence and security ties, which benefit the Americans and Singaporeans.

References

Lim Hui Jie, “Singapore’s Wong retains power as ruling People’s Action Party boosts vote share in landslide victory,” CNBC, 04 May 2025

“PAP secures landslide victory in Singapore General Election; PM Wong gets strong mandate” The Hindu, 04 May 2025

“Singapore general election: parties and their platforms,” Reuters, 30 April 2025

Goh Yan Han“Election results a ‘clear signal of trust, stability and confidence’ in the PAP govt: PM Wong,” The Straits Times, 04 May 2025 

“As PAP triumphs again in Singapore, Workers' Party emerges as main opposition,” Reuters, 04 May 2025

“PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS” Elections Department of Singapore

“Singapore’s Election,” US Department of State, 04 May 2025

“First decades of self-government,” Brittanica; Pang Cheng Lian,

“The People's Action Party, 1954-1963,” Jstor

About the author
Fleur Elizabeth Philip is a Research Assistant at NIAS.

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