GE2025: PAP claims Punggol GRC with 55.17% of vote, fending off WP’s hammer
DPM Gan is re-elected, after a campaign in which PAP heavyweights stressed his key role in the current economic situation
[SINGAPORE] The People’s Action Party (PAP) has retained the newly formed Punggol GRC, fending off a high-profile challenge from the Workers’ Party (WP) and keeping Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong in Parliament.
Of the 115,252 valid votes cast on Saturday (May 3), the PAP garnered 63,589 or 55.17 per cent. There were 822 spoilt votes.
This comes after days of campaigning in which PAP heavyweights stressed DPM Gan’s importance to Singapore, including in ongoing tariff talks with the US.
DPM Gan’s team comprised two fellow political officeholders – Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary and Minister of State Sun Xueling – as well as NTUC assistant secretary-general Yeo Wan Ling.
They defeated a team of four WP first-timers: Harpreet Singh, Jackson Au, Alexis Dang and Siti Alia Mattar. The WP team took 51,663 votes.
This was despite DPM Gan being in unfamiliar territory, after an eleventh-hour shift from Chua Chu Kang GRC on Nomination Day.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong later said that DPM Gan was fielded in Punggol because the party needed a “senior office-holder of similar stature” to take over from retiring Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean.
During the campaign, DPM Gan also came under opposition fire for his role in the controversial Income-Allianz deal as chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Warnings of crisis
In his thank-you speech to supporters at Bedok Stadium, DPM Gan expressed gratitude to the residents of Punggol for placing their “trust and confidence” in his team.
To the residents who did not vote for the PAP, DPM Gan said that the team remains committed to engaging with all constituents and finding ways to work together.
He thanked PM Wong for deploying him to Punggol and entrusting him with leading the national task force for economic resilience, as well as former SM Teo for his guidance, as DPM Gan navigated the constituency as a “newbie”.
He also acknowledged Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong for walking the ground during the campaign and helping to win support with his presence.
Looking ahead, DPM Gan reminded supporters of an “imminent global crisis... approaching nearer and nearer”, stressing the need for unity to “secure a better future for Singapore”.
North-east push
WP’s unsuccessful bid in Punggol GRC was part of its continued push into Singapore’s north-east, following its breakthrough in Sengkang GRC in 2020. That year, it defeated a PAP team that included Ng Chee Meng, who was then minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Ng, who stood in Jalan Kayu SMC this year, has returned to Parliament after securing 51.47 per cent of the vote, beating WP’s Andre Low.
Punggol GRC is home to Singapore’s youngest electorate, with more than half of its more than 120,000 voters estimated to be aged between 21 and 45. The constituency was carved out of the now-defunct Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC – which the WP has never contested – and includes the former Punggol West SMC.
In the 2020 General Election, WP’s Punggol West candidate Tan Chen Chen took 39.02 per cent of the vote, losing to the PAP’s Sun Xueling.
For more election coverage, visit our GE2025 microsite
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
