What began as a landmark opposition victory in a single-seat ward in 1981 has evolved over the past four decades into a movement that now controls three of Singapore’s constituencies and has eight members of parliament.
The Workers’ Party secured a record 10 seats in the city state’s last election, leading to party chief Pritam Singh being officially named leader of the opposition – a role that had previously lacked formal recognition.
This gradual expansion of the opposition party into the most formidable political rival of Singapore’s long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has come amid growing calls for increased political plurality.
The PAP’s enduring influence was built upon the economic progress and social stability it has provided to Singaporeans, with the country consistently performing well on metrics measuring growth, stability and quality of life.
Singapore’s gross domestic product soared to over S$600 billion (US$450.6 billion) last year, more than tripling from S$194 billion in 2004. The nation also maintains low crime rates and is renowned for being one of the safest cities globally, according to various international indexes.
However, changing demographics and what Hong Hai, a former PAP member of parliament, describes as a growing inclination towards Western liberal democratic values may be starting to challenge the PAP’s hold over Singaporeans.
Older voters who experienced crises alongside the first generation of PAP leaders are now diminishing in number, while younger voters increasingly seek more political choice.
“They are therefore more supportive of stronger opposition voices in politics,” said Hong, also an emeritus professor at Nanyang Business School. “Members of parliament and ministers will need to become more skilled in convincing the electorate of its policies through clear and logical arguments backed by publicly available data.”
The 2020 election saw the PAP’s vote share decline by eight percentage points to 61.24 per cent, with 11 parties contesting the polls – surpassing the previous record set in 2015.
Among them was the Progress Singapore Party, led by former PAP MP Tan Cheng Bock, which garnered 48.32 per cent of the vote in West Coast. This ate into the PAP’s vote share, and handed the ruling party its narrowest victory, in a constituency where two fourth-generation (4G) ministers – including former transport minister S. Iswaran, who was recently jailed for accepting gifts – were standing for election.
For its efforts, Progress Singapore earned two non-constituency seats in parliament for secretary general Hazel Poa and Leong Mun Wai, who has been described as a “mini-Trump” for his nativist views.
While the Workers’ Party has repeatedly said it does not aim to form a government in the near future, it is clearly pursuing aggressive northeastward expansion. Party members have been spotted distributing newsletters in areas such as Marine Parade, Tampines, and East Coast, neighbouring the party’s existing strongholds.
The East Coast constituency was closely fought in 2020, with the PAP winning by just 53.39 per cent of the vote, despite the last-minute entry of then prime minister-designate Heng Swee Keat. With Heng no longer in the running to be prime minister, this constituency is tipped to be fiercely contested in the next election.
Across the six constituencies it contested in the last election, the Workers’ Party clinched 50.49 per cent of the vote – a statistic that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong raised at the PAP’s conference in 2022, while he was still deputy prime minister.
“If you add up their votes across all six constituencies, the WP won slightly more votes than the PAP overall. What if the WP had contested more seats? Would the PAP still have won 61 per cent of the votes nationwide? Would we still have returned to power?” he said.
“This is why from day one after being designated the leader of the 4G team, I said that I do not assume the PAP will win the next [general election], or that I will inevitably become the next prime minister.”
In an interview with local media before taking office in May, Wong said it was “not unimaginable for two or maybe three opposition parties to come together, form a coalition and run the government”.
Singapore’s next general elections are due to be held by November 2025, likely coinciding with celebrations marking its 60th anniversary of independence. Around 177,000 voters will be eligible to cast their ballots for the first time, among a citizen population of some 3.6 million.
Political analysts say the PAP will have to convince these new voters that it can connect with them, respect their desire for greater plurality, and still emerge as their preferred choice.
To strengthen this connection, soon after he was named as the next prime minister Wong initiated a Forward Singapore exercise aimed at engaging with the public and proposing new ways to build consensus for the future.
But a more contested political environment may lead to increased scrutiny of policy decisions, with lobbying becoming commonplace. Should decisions be reversed, the government risks being perceived as weak or populist, analysts warn.
In his final key speech before passing the leadership to Wong in May, Lee Hsien Loong cautioned against Singaporeans succumbing to “populism, tribalism, nativism, or obsession with short-term gains like other countries”.
He emphasised the potential for political exploitation of divisions among the “have and the have nots, Singaporean-born and naturalised citizens, conservatives and liberals, current and future generations”, underscoring the need to “overcome social stresses and tensions”.