General elections were held in Singapore on 3 May 2025 to elect members of Parliament. They were the sixteenth general elections since the introduction of self-government in 1959, the fourteenth since independence in 1965, and the first under Lawrence Wong, who succeeded Lee Hsien Loong as prime minister in May 2024 and as secretary-general of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) that December. The election was described as "a key test of public confidence" in Wong. The 14th Parliament was dissolved on 15 April, with nomination day being 23 April. A record 211 candidates contested the election, including 53 women, the highest number of female candidates in Singapore's history. The number of elected seats was increased to 97, up from the 93 in the previous election.
Political parties focused their campaigns on the cost of living, with the opposition pushing for a reduction in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) or exemptions for necessities. The opposition also called for reforms to public housing policies. Additionally, the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and the People's Alliance for Reform (PAR), among other parties, advocated for stricter immigration controls. The PAP focused its campaign on constituency-level achievements and emphasised policy discussions, marking a stark contrast to previous elections which had focused more on personal attacks and national-level rhetoric. The elections also saw alleged foreign interference by politicians from the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).
The PAP retained its two-thirds supermajority, winning 87 seats and improving its popular vote share from the previous election to 65.57%. The Workers' Party (WP) retained all ten of its seats and gained two additional seats accorded to the "best losers", both of which were previously held by the PSP. As a result, the PSP lost its representation in Parliament and the 15th Parliament comprised only two political parties. Voter turnout was 92.83% – the lowest since 1968. Wong formed his cabinet on 21 May and the 15th Parliament was opened on 5 September.
Background
The 2020 general election saw the PAP lose the most seats in its history at once to the opposition; despite this, it managed to win a supermajority, comprising all but three electoral divisions. It retained West Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) against the PSP by 3.36% of the vote, the narrowest margin of victory among all electoral divisions; its largest margin of victory was in neighbouring Jurong GRC. The WP won the new Sengkang GRC while retaining Aljunied GRC and Hougang Single Member Constituency (SMC). Ng Chee Meng, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), who had led the PAP team for Sengkang GRC, was considered the highest-profile political casualty of the election. The 14th Parliament was the second longest in Singapore's history at four years and eight months, only behind the 8th Parliament; it also had the most sittings in one term at 162, surpassing the 135 in the 13th Parliament.
Electoral system Under Article 65(4) of the Constitution of Singapore, a parliamentary term lasts a maximum of five years from its first sitting before its automatic dissolution. However, the Prime Minister, with a vote of confidence from a majority of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), can advise the President for early dissolution at any time. A general election must be held within three months of dissolution.
Electoral divisions, better known as constituencies, are organised into single-member constituencies (SMCs) and group representation constituencies (GRCs). Each SMC returns one MP by first-past-the-post voting, while each GRC returns four or five MPs by party block voting (the general ticket). At least one candidate in every GRC must be from a minority community in Singapore, i.e. Malay or Indian/other (other being not Chinese, Malay or Indian). Whether a GRC requires a Malay or non-Malay minority candidate is determined by the President. A GRC team must entirely comprise either independents or members of the same political party. The voting age in Singapore is 21 years. Elections are conducted by the Elections Department (ELD), a department under the PMO.
The returning officer for this election was Han Kok Juan, the Director-General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).
Political parties The table below lists political parties elected or nominated in Parliament after the 2020 general election: NameLeaderIdeologyVotes (%)SeatsStatus Last election Non-constituency At dissolutionPeople's Action Party (PAP)Lawrence WongConservatismCivic nationalismWorkers' Party (WP)Pritam SinghSocial democracyParliamentarismProgress Singapore Party (PSP)Tan Cheng BockProgressivismSocial liberalismVacantcolspan=5
Pre-election composition
Under Singapore's constitution, the opposition is guaranteed a set number of parliamentary seats; the remainder beyond the number of elected opposition MPs is filled by the best-performing defeated opposition candidates, collectively known as non-constituency MPs (NCMPs). The 2016 constitution set a 12-seat minimum. The opposition consisted of ten elected seats, all held by the WP, and two NCMP seats held by the PSP.
Election date On 8 March 2024, the ELD announced that 50,000 public servants had been appointed as election officials. Following Lee Hsien Loong's announcement in April 2024 that he would step down as prime minister in May, CNA speculated that general elections could be held at the end of that year. However, Wong said in November that the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) had not yet been convened. Following the formation of the EBRC in January 2025, political observers interviewed by The Straits Times (ST) speculated that the election could be held as early as April or May, following the passage of the 2025 budget. July was deemed unlikely as it would be right before National Day celebrations. The South China Morning Post speculated that elections, typically held around the school holidays in March and September, could be held as early as September. On the other hand, Eugene Tan, an associate professor at Singapore Management University (SMU), believed that a September election would be "hasty" for Wong to establish his mandate and that the election was more likely to be held after the announcement of the 2025 budget. A 2025 general election would coincide with the country's SG60 National Day celebrations.
Voter rolls The ELD released a statement outlining that the Register of Electors would be refreshed in 2025, being closed for updating a few months ahead of the plausible election date. As such, for the 2025 election, a citizen had to be aged 21 and above as of 1 February 2025 to be able to vote. The latest certification from the Register of Electors was released on 21 July, announcing an electorate of 2,715,187. The voter rolls were opened for public inspection from 15 to 28 February and updated on 24 March, increasing the electorate to 2,758,095; after the writ of election was issued, the number was further increased to 2,758,858. By 18 April 2025, 18,389 voters had been registered as overseas voters, with 8,630 casting their votes at one of 10 overseas polling stations, and 9,759 via postal voting, first introduced in the 2023 presidential election.
Other constitutional changes
The ELD made amendments together with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI). It was announced that, if they were foreign or permanent residents (PRs), family members (including minors under the age of 16) of candidates would not need the candidates' written authorisation (or that of their election agents) to participate in election activities, though direct involvement in politics, such as canvassing, would still be prohibited. On 31 May 2024, the ELD announced that the returning officer, appointed by the prime minister, would be authorised to instruct individuals and social media platforms to remove online election advertisements violating election regulations.
The ELD stated on 15 October 2024 that special arrangements at nursing homes, first implemented in the 2023 presidential election, would be discontinued due to logistical constraints and mixed reception. On the same day, Parliament passed a lawwhich extended to digitally generated or manipulated online content presenting a false account of a candidate's statements or conductbanning deepfakes of candidates during elections. A spending limit is set for electoral campaigns; on 27 March 2025, it was raised to S$5 per elector per constituency from $4 to account for inflation.
New banners, flags, and posters were prohibited from being posted until the start of campaigning, with exceptions for some used as permanent location markers, or existing ones placed prior to the prohibition (such as town council banners); Aetos Security Management was authorised to take down violating posters at its own discretion.
Electoral boundary changes
20202025Seats 93 97Electoral divisions 31 33Group representation constituencies 17 18Four-member GRCs 6 8Five-member GRCs 11 10Single-member constituencies 14 15Average GRC size 4.65 4.56Local voters 2,647,372 2,740,469All (including overseas) voters 2,653,942 2,758,858
The EBRC, which redraws Singapore's electoral map before every general election, was convened on 22 January 2025. It released its report on 11 March, calling for 18 GRCs and 15 SMCs which totalled an increased 97 seats in Parliament. These changes were reportedly to account for uneven growth in the number of electors across existing electoral divisions, especially in the eastern and western ends of Singapore.
Six new SMCs – Jurong Central, Sembawang West, Bukit Gombak, Jalan Kayu, Queenstown, and Tampines Changkat – were introduced. In turn, five existing SMCs – Bukit Batok, Hong Kah North, MacPherson, Punggol West, and Yuhua – were absorbed into neighbouring GRCs. The boundaries of four existing SMCs – Bukit Panjang, Hougang, Marymount, and Pioneer – remained unchanged.
Many GRCs in the east and west of Singapore were reorganised. Jurong GRC was split to become Jurong East–Bukit Batok GRC. West Coast GRC was renamed West Coast–Jurong West GRC, gaining territory in Jurong GRC. In the east, Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC was split into Pasir Ris–Changi and Punggol GRCs. Marine Parade GRC was also renamed Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC; it absorbed MacPherson SMC and parts of Potong Pasir and Mountbatten SMCs. The GRCs of Bishan–Toa Payoh, Jalan Besar, Marsiling–Yew Tee, Nee Soon, and Sengkang remained unchanged.
The government accepted the boundary changes. While "heartened that the EBRC ha[d] somewhat disclosed more of the reasoning behind its decisions, contrary to its previous report in 2020", the PSP argued that the EBRC could have considered population shifts without making "drastic" changes to existing electoral boundaries. The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) expressed "disappointment with the disappearance of Yuhua and Bukit Batok SMCs", which it had intended to contest, and claimed that the process of redrawing boundaries "lacked transparency". Similarly, on 25 March, WP leader Pritam Singh cited the change as "one of the most radical redrawing[s]" in a Facebook post, and said that an opaque institution could become "divisive". The 2025 general election also saw the first walkover in 14 years after no opposition candidates contested Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC.
Pre-election activities
Vacated seats Six seats were vacated during the 14th Parliament.
Affiliation Members with voting rights Elected Non-Constituency As at 2020 At dissolution Change 83 – 83 79 4 10 – 10 8 2 – 2 2 2 – Government majority 71 69 2Vacancies 0 6 6
List of vacated seats The 14th Parliament saw the largest number of vacated seats since Singapore's independence.