Singapore's ruling party keeps majority in victory for Wong

Philip J. Heijmans, Bloomberg News on May 3, 2025

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Singapore’s ruling party was on track to secure a convincing victory in Saturday’s election as voters worried about rising costs and a worsening global economic climate rallied behind incumbent Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his first electoral test since taking office a year ago.

Official results from the nation’s elections department showed the People’s Action Party winning 87 of the 97 seats up for grabs. The opposition Workers’ Party claimed 10 seats, the same number they had in the previous parliament, which had fewer total seats.

Wong thanked supporters in his district early on Sunday for the “strong mandate” they gave him and the party, saying “we’ll honor the trust that’s given to us by working even harder.”

Perhaps most importantly for Wong, the PAP saw its share of the total vote rise from a near record low in 2020. The party secured almost 66% of the popular vote this year compared to about 61% in the previous election. Those results will be greeted with a huge sigh of relief by the ruling party, which rolled out a series of measures including billions in subsidies to bolster its mandate since the last election.

The results may underscore how voters in countries disrupted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade wars are increasingly rallying behind incumbent governments. Singapore’s election came on the same night that Australia’s ruling Labor Party won an overwhelming mandate to form the next government, and less than a week after Canada’s Liberal Party did the same despite being behind in the polls a few months ago.

Saturday’s election looks set to put to rest any doubt in the PAP’s leadership about Wong, 52, who took over from two-decade former incumbent Lee Hsien Loong last year and is just the city-state’s fourth prime minister. The party’s 2020 result — in which it still retained 89% of the seats in parliament — raised hopes among some voters at the time of a stronger, lasting opposition presence in politics.

Lim Tean of the opposition coalition People’s Alliance for Reform said the results are “disappointing not just for PAR but for the entire opposition.” His party lost in all six districts it contested.

The PAP sought to win back support after the humbling 2020 vote by tightening entry requirements on some foreign workers, easing access to public housing for younger citizens and repealing a long-standing law barring sex between men.

With the PAP’s position secure, attention will quickly turn to how the country navigates the coming months. Few countries have more at risk from a global trade war than Singapore, which turned itself from a colonial port into a global financial and trading hub in just a couple of generations following independence.

That transformation earned the PAP a lot of loyalty. Singaporeans enjoy one of the highest standards of livings in the world, in a city that boasts modern public transportation, efficient healthcare and a public housing program that’s allowed nine out of 10 citizens to own a home.

But the “little red dot,” as the country refers to itself, isn’t immune to the changes roiling the world. The Ministry of Trade and Industry recently lowered the country’s 2025 growth forecast to 0-2% from a 1%-3% estimate in February. That’s down from a 4.4% expansion in 2024.

Saturday’s results show Wong will have all the support he needs to continue his social welfare agenda and navigate trade tensions without much fuss on the other side of the aisle. All told this year, he announced plans this year to spend almost S$124 billion ($95 billion) on everything from airport upgrades to vouchers for supermarkets and elder care.

Going forward, Wong will likely seek to continue striking a balance between China, the country’s biggest trade partner, and the U.S., its biggest source of foreign direct investment.

“Despite our limitations as a small state, we cannot afford to be a passive bystander,” he said during a speech last month. “Singapore today is not without agency.”

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(With assistance from Natalie Choy, Rachel Yeo, Bernadette Toh, Chanyaporn Chanjaroen, Katharine Gemmell, Low De Wei, Justina T. Lee, Weilun Soon, Ishika Mookerjee and Yongchang Chin.)