Editing Politics of Singapore (section)

=== Major political parties in Singapore ===

==== People's Action Party ====
The PAP has been the dominant political party in Singapore, re-elected continuously since 1959. It is headed by [[Lee Hsien Loong]], who succeeded [[Goh Chok Tong]]. Goh's predecessor [[Lee Kuan Yew]] served as Singapore's prime minister from independence through 1990. Since stepping down as prime minister, Lee remained influential as [[Senior Minister of Singapore|Senior Minister]] and [[Minister Mentor]].

PAP has held the overwhelming majority of seats in parliament since 1966 when the opposition [[Barisan Sosialis Party]] resigned from parliament and left the PAP as the sole representative party. PAP won all of the seats in an expanding parliament in the general elections of 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980. PAP's share of the popular vote in contested seats declined from 78% in 1980 to 65% in 1997. However, the elections of 2001 saw the party's share of the popular vote climb to 75%, winning 82 of the 84 seats. The [[2006 Singapore general election]] marked the first time since 1988 the PAP did not return to power on nomination day, with the opposition parties fielding candidates in over half of the constituencies. Overall PAP saw its share of the vote fall to 66.6%.

The dominance of the PAP, often to the extent that there is no effective and significant opposition for decades, has led to Singapore being described as a ''[[de facto]]'' [[one-party state]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Huat |first=Chua Beng |date=December 2010 |title=The cultural logic of a capitalist single-party state, Singapore |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13688790.2010.518347 |journal=Postcolonial Studies |language=en |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=335–350 |doi=10.1080/13688790.2010.518347 |s2cid=143497465 |issn=1368-8790}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://library.fes.de/fulltext/iez/01361inf.htm |title=Electoral politics in Southeast & East Asia |author=Yeo Lay Hwee |date=2002 |publisher=Friedrich Ebert Stiftung |others=Gabriele Bruns, Aurel Croissant, Marei John |isbn=981-04-6020-1 |oclc=223396951 |chapter=Electoral Politics in Singapore |chapter-url=https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/01361007.pdf}}</ref>

==== Worker's Party ====
The [[Workers' Party (Singapore)|Workers' Party (WP)]], established in 1957 by [[David Marshall (Singaporean politician)|David Marshall]], is one of Singapore's most prominent opposition parties. Known for its steadfast commitment to parliamentary democracy, the WP has played a key role in providing alternative political voices in the country. The party achieved a significant milestone in 1981 when [[J. B. Jeyaretnam|J.B. Jeyaretnam]] won the [[1981 Anson by-election|Anson by-election]], becoming the first opposition Member of Parliament since 1965. In 2011, the WP made history by winning Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC), marking the first-ever opposition victory in a GRC. This was followed by another breakthrough in 2020 with their triumph in Sengkang GRC. The WP continues to advocate for a balanced political landscape, offering constructive and responsible alternatives to the ruling party while championing the rights of Singaporeans.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the Workers’ Party |url=https://www.wp.sg/history |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=www.wp.sg |language=en-SG}}</ref>

==== Progress Singapore Party ====
The [[Progress Singapore Party]] (PSP), founded on 28 March 2019 by former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock, is a major opposition party in Singapore.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Progress Singapore Party: Origins, Evolution and Prospects |date=2021-09-26 |work=Breakthrough 2.0 |pages=113–138 |url=https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/9789811227288_0004 |access-date=2025-02-25 |publisher=WORLD SCIENTIFIC |doi=10.1142/9789811227288_0004 |isbn=978-981-12-2727-1}}</ref> PSP contested its first General Election in 2020, fielding 24 candidates across nine constituencies. While the party did not win any seats, its West Coast GRC team achieved a close 48.31% vote share. <ref>{{Cite web |title=GE2020: PSP’s credible maiden showing a ‘head start’ for the future, says Tan Cheng Bock |url=https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/ge2020-psp-average-40-score-head-start-future-says-tan-cheng-bock |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=TODAY |language=en}}</ref>This entitled PSP to two Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seats, currently held by Hazel Poa and Leong Mun Wai.<ref>{{Cite news |title=GE2020: Progress Singapore Party's Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa declared elected NCMPs |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/ge2020-progress-singapore-partys-leong-mun-wai-and-hazel-poa-declared-elected-ncmps |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230901114514/https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/ge2020-progress-singapore-partys-leong-mun-wai-and-hazel-poa-declared-elected-ncmps |archive-date=2023-09-01 |access-date=2025-02-25 |work=The Straits Times |language=en}}</ref>

==== Other opposition parties ====
There are other major opposition parties such as the [[Singapore People's Party]], [[Reform Party (Singapore)|Reform Party]], and the [[Singapore Democratic Party]] (SDP), that do not hold a seat in parliament.

Despite acquiring an increasing percentage of the popular vote—34% overall in 2006—opposition parties gained small numbers of seats in the general elections of 1984 (2 seats of 79), 1988 (1 seat of 81), 1991 (4 seats of 81), 1997 (2 seats of 83) and 2001 (2 seats of 84). The opposition parties attribute the disproportionate results to the nature of the [[Group Representation Constituency|GRC system]].

As of July 2020, the [[Workers' Party of Singapore|Worker's Party]] holds 10 of 93 elected seats while [[Progress Singapore Party]] holds the remaining 2 [[Non-constituency Member of Parliament|Non-constituency MP]] (NCMP) seats.