Singaporean Elections: Workers' Party's Mixed Fortunes
In the 2025 General Elections, the Workers' Party struggles to make advancements, remaining the sole opposition party in parliament after polling.
In the 2025 elections, the Workers' Party (WP) remained the lone opposition group to make it to parliament, taking 10 seats in total. However, their goal of snagging 26 seats across eastern Singapore fell short.
The WP's victories were confined to their strongholds - Aljunied GRC, Sengkang GRC, and Hougang SMC. While the party saw an uptick in votes in Sengkang GRC (56.31% versus 52.13% in 2020) and Hougang SMC (62.17% versus 61.19% in 2020), their share in Aljunied GRC (59.68% versus 59.93% in 2020) dipped slightly.
The party missed out on winning new constituencies, but managed to secure two Non-constituency MP (NCMP) seats due to their close losses in Jalan Kayu SMC (48.53%) and Tampines GRC (four-way race and 47.37%).
When the votes were counted, fewer than 12 opposition candidates were elected, leading to the "best losers" from among the opposition being offered NCMP seats.
Party leader Pritam Singh refrained from speaking to the media post-election, but each team took the stage to thank supporters and volunteers. Expressing gratitude to residents of Aljunied GRC, Singh remarked, "The mission of achieving a more balanced parliament continues." He pledged that the Aljunied GRC team would serve everyone equally, regardless of whom they voted for.
Factors Behind the Results
Several factors likely played a role in the WP's retention of incumbent positions but failure to gain new ground:
- Established Strongholds: The WP's unwavering support in areas like Aljunied GRC, Sengkang GRC, and Hougang SMC can be attributed to strong grassroots engagement and local presence.
- Challenges Expanding Beyond Core Areas: The WP faced hurdles in building new support networks outside their traditional strongholds. The dominant presence of the People's Action Party (PAP) in other regions made it difficult for the WP to win over voters in PAP-dominated areas.
- PAP's Broad Appeal and Economic Stability Emphasis: The PAP's focus on economic stability and addressing economic insecurities may have struck a chord with voters nationwide, particularly amid global economic uncertainties.
- Electoral System Dynamics: Singapore's electoral system, with Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and Single Member Constituencies (SMCs), could have impacted the WP's ability to gain new ground. The GRC system requires parties to field entire teams of candidates, which can be challenging for smaller parties like the WP.
- Limited Electoral Momentum: The WP might not have had sufficient electoral momentum or resources to challenge the PAP effectively across all constituencies. The PAP's broad influence and organizational capacity could have overshadowed the WP's efforts.
- Despite an overall decline in margins offered in the 2025 Singaporean General Elections, Workers' Party (WP) managed to retain their seats in constituencies such as Aljunied GRC, Sengkang GRC, and Hougang SMC, demonstrating their strongholds' continuous support.
- In contrast, the WP encountered challenges while attempting to expand beyond their traditional strongholds, including Jalan Kayu SMC and Tampines GRC, despite showing significant growth in Sengkang GRC and Hougang SMC.
- As the People's Action Party (PAP) placed emphasis on economic stability and addressing economic insecurities, their broad national appeal may have barricaded the WP's growth in PAP-dominated constituencies.
- In addition, the electoral system dynamics, with Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and Single Member Constituencies (SMCs), might have hindered the WP's ability to gain new ground, particularly given the challenges of fielding entire teams of candidates for GRCs.
- Consequently, limited electoral momentum and resources relative to the PAP may have hindered the WP's efforts to challenge the PAP across all constituencies, with the PAP's large organizational capacity playing a significant role in their continued dominance in the realm of policy-and-legislation and general-news headlines.
