General Election 2030

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Tan Cheng Bock, founder of PSP, will not be involved in next general election; will stay on in party​

(From left) The Progress Singapore Party's secretary-general Leong Mun Wai, chairman Tan Cheng Bock and first vice-chair Hazel Poa at 726 West Coast market on May 10.ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

Joyce Teo
May 10, 2025

SINGAPORE - Dr Tan Cheng Bock, the Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) founder, said on May 10 that he will not be involved in the next general election, but the party will return for the next round.

He said: “Today, it’s just to come here and say thank you to those who voted for us, and also to show to those who didn’t vote for us (that) we are not running away.

“We’ll be back soon. We’ll be back in maybe five years’ time. By then, I hope a younger team will take over, and I hope the people will look at us in a different way.”

Dr Tan and party chief Leong Mun Wai gave a brief address to the media before a walkabout at West Coast Market at Block 726 West Coast Road.

This comes seven days after PSP lost all six constituencies it contested at the May 3 general election.

Dr Tan said his party had put up a good fight.

“It’s been a good journey for us, for the younger people. They know what it’s like to fight in the direction (with) all the odds against you,” he said.

“At the end of the day, we didn’t do that well. I don’t want to blame anybody now. I think the important thing is we are just looking forward to see how we can train our younger (members) to understand what is politics and what it is like.”

Dr Tan said he will remain in the party to advise the younger generation.

Dr Tan celebrated his 85th birthday on April 26, during campaigning. Earlier, he had said that he took part in this election in the hope of drawing more younger people to Parliament.

“For me, I’ve gone into Parliament for 26 years, but I want the younger lot to be given that chance to have the experience,” he said on May 10.

“I tried my best. I think maybe they (voters) think: “You’re not ready”, but it’s okay, because the Workers’ Party took about 60 years to just gain 10 seats.

“I told them (PSP members) don’t be discouraged. At least we were given the initial chance. But never mind, we will learn and come back.”

Dr Tan Cheng Bock greeting residents at West Coast Market on May 10.ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Mr Leong said: “PSP is not going to run away. We’ll reflect, regroup and return.”

He also thanked those who voted for them.

He said that as the party was doing its review, it was not ready to share its plans for now.

PSP’s first vice-chair Hazel Poa was also present at the briefing.

On May 10, the PSP team also planned to visit four other areas, including Boon Lay Place and Jurong West.

Mr Leong and Ms Poa failed to retain their non-constituency MP seats after the general election.

PSP’s A-team that included its top three leaders – Dr Tan, Mr Leong and Ms Poa – lost in West Coast-Jurong West GRC.

The PAP team, led by Minister for National Development Desmond Lee, won 60.01 per cent of the vote share.

During the 2020 General Election, PSP captured public attention when it put up a strong fight in the then West Coast GRC that left the PAP with just 51.68 per cent of the vote share.

The narrow margin sent Mr Leong and Ms Poa into Parliament as NCMPs.

On March 11, the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee said West Coast GRC would absorb some estates from Jurong GRC and be renamed West Coast-Jurong West GRC for the May 3 general election.

The old GRC also ceded estates in HarbourFront and Sentosa to Radin Mas SMC, and areas of Dover and Telok Blangah to Tanjong Pagar GRC.

The new West Coast-Jurong West GRC remained a five-member one and had 158,581 voters.

Mr Leong was among the top 10 members during the recent 14th term of Parliament in terms of questions asked and debate participation.

 

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Battle emerges between PAP, WP to shape narrative: How should voters judge the Opposition at GE2030?​

The PAP and the WP are tapping into public discourse that the 2025 General Election was a moment of political maturity for Singapore.

Oct 03, 2025

SINGAPORE – The post-mortem for the 2025 General Election continues, but already the first battle line has been drawn for the next fight, with a key question that has emerged: How should voters judge the Workers’ Party (WP) come 2030?

During Parliament’s first sitting last week, leaders from the ruling PAP and the opposition WP set out to shape expectations with their own competing takes on what the WP should be doing in the House.

Speaking on Sept 23 during the five-day debate, Coordinating Minister for Social Policies Ong Ye Kung framed these expectations as what voters will look for from the WP moving forward as Singapore matures politically.

He said the WP should offer a “real” alternative vision for Singapore with alternative policies. While the WP has done this occasionally before, it needs to present a “principled, consistent and coherent approach” to Singapore’s challenges, he added.

Should the WP “rise to the occasion” and stand and contest the PAP as the Democrats and the Republicans do in the US or the Conservatives and Labour do in the UK, “life will be much harder for the PAP”, he said in a wide-ranging speech on Singapore’s new post-election political landscape.

As a party heavyweight and one of the PAP’s senior leaders, Mr Ong’s outline was more than a reflection of what he said was public sentiment – it was also an appeal to Singaporeans to hold the opposition party to a higher standard than before.

It presents a significant shift in how the ruling party frames the role of the WP to the public.

The PAP has in recent years publicly accepted the WP’s continued presence in Parliament and role in holding the Government to account. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said during the debate that he fully expects the WP to continue what it was doing before – asking questions and scrutinising policy.

Mr Ong went further – framing the WP’s role as similar to the PAP’s: to offer a vision for Singapore and the policies to execute it.

His move could set a standard that the PAP will seek to hold the WP to at the next election.

If voters come to expect something from the WP beyond what it is prepared to do, that will give ample ammunition to the PAP at the next hustings.

The WP leadership largely disagreed with his assessment, and instead put out a vision for the party in line with the role it is already playing and which it campaigned on: a check on the Government.

Leader of the Opposition and WP chief Pritam Singh said on the first day of the debate that his party plans to primarily focus on “the function that Parliament demands of us – checking the Government’s policies and actions”.

On the last day, WP chair Sylvia Lim also weighed in and said opposition MPs are expected to take an independent line, question the Government and vote against proposals when they deem it necessary, as that “is our obligation and that is what voters expect us to do”.

It is no surprise the WP held the line – its approach and branding as a check on the Government have led it to become the most successful opposition party since the 1960s.

Both sides are taking the start of the 15th term of Parliament to set these expectations, as the role of the WP is at an inflection point after the results of the May election.

It is now the only opposition party in Parliament and has 12 MPs – its largest contingent in the Chamber. Its vote share from the election, averaging just over 50 per cent of the vote across the 26 seats it contested, is head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the Opposition – and many now see it as the only party able to mount a credible challenge against the ruling PAP.

The two parties are also tapping into public discourse that the May election was a moment of political maturity for Singapore. Most other opposition parties lost relevance and vote share, leaving the PAP and the WP standing alone in the House – a result that many interpreted as growing sophistication among voters.

Both sides are trying to shape what this new-found maturity may mean to Singaporeans and what responsibilities are then assigned to their political opponent.

To Mr Singh, the acceptance of opposition MPs and their role in public life is a sign of this maturity and what Singaporeans want.

In response to Mr Ong, he questioned if opposition MPs would be invited to welcome new citizens at ceremonies organised by the People’s Association, “because that would reflect a certain maturity that I believe is where Singapore has arrived”.

“And if I can be so bold, it may well be something that Singaporeans demand of the PAP,” he said.

Mr Ong, on the other hand, framed political maturity as growing expectations from Singaporeans to hear different perspectives and see a good contest of ideas.

He gave examples from what he called mature democracies where a dynamic of parties offering different visions of a nation’s future is “institutionalised” like the Tories and Labour in the UK.

The WP’s role in achieving this political maturity is then to fit Singaporeans’ expectations by providing this alternative – becoming another party with its own vision for Singapore in this system.

But can the WP offer an alternative vision? Mr Singh acknowledged that Singaporeans want an alternative and his party does its best to present one.

But he stopped short of saying that its ability to do more will also depend on the extent to which the Government will extend public resources to it, and reiterated persistent gaps.

Responding to Mr Ong, Mr Singh said the party deals with “significant asymmetries of information”.

He cited the “tremendous resources” that are available to the PAP to reach out day-to-day in the constituencies through the People’s Association, including the new-citizen welcome ceremonies.

Both sides have centred voters’ expectations at the core of how the other side should behave, using what they claim voters want to push the other side to do more.

As arguments develop along these new battle lines, it is now up to Singapore voters to decide which version of the Opposition they want – and the polls in 2030 will tell.