Editing People's Action Party

{{short description|Singaporean political party}}
{{about|the People's Action Party of Singapore|other groups with the same name|People's Action Party (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Singapore English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = People's Action Party
| native_name      = {{ublist
 | {{native name|ms|Parti Tindakan Rakyat|italics=no}}
 | {{nobold|{{native name|zh|人民行动党|italics=no}}}}
 | {{nobold|{{lang|zh-Latn|Rénmín Xíngdòng Dǎng}}}}
 | {{nobold|{{native name|ta|மக்களின் செயல் கட்சி|italics=no}}}}
 | {{nobold|{{lang|ta-Latn|Makkaḷin Ceyal Kaṭci}}}}
}}
| logo             = People's Action Party of Singapore logo.svg
| logo_size        = 125
| colorcode        = {{party color|People's Action Party}}
| abbreviation     = PAP
| chairman         = [[Heng Swee Keat]]
| secretary_general = [[Lawrence Wong]]
| leader1_title    = Vice-Chairman
| leader1_name     = [[Masagos Zulkifli]]
| founders         = {{unbulleted list|[[Lee Kuan Yew]]|[[Goh Keng Swee]]|[[Toh Chin Chye]]|[[S. Rajaratnam]]|[[Lim Chin Siong]]|''... and others''}}
| leader2_title    = Assistant Secretaries-General
| leader2_name     = {{unbulleted list|[[Chan Chun Sing]]|[[Desmond Lee (Singaporean politician)|Desmond Lee]]}}
| founded          = {{start date and age|df=yes|1954|11|21}}
| legalised        = <!-- or |legalized= -->
| dissolved        = <!-- {{end date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| predecessor      = [[Malayan Forum]]
| successor        = {{unbulleted list|[[Barisan Sosialis]]<br/>[[Democratic Action Party]]}} ([[Malaysia]])
| headquarters     = Block 57B New Upper Changi Road #01-1402 Singapore 463057
| youth_wing       = [[Young PAP]]
| ideology         = {{ubl|class=nowrap|
 |[[Conservatism]]{{refn|<ref>{{cite book |page=293 |first=David |last=Goldblatt |title=Governance in the Asia-Pacific |year=2005 |publisher=Routledge}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Rethinking the Third World |publisher=Macmillan |first=Mark |last=Berger |page=98 |year=2014}}</ref>
 |[[Economic liberalism]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Kuah-Pearce |first=Khun Eng |title=Rebuilding the Ancestral Village |page=37 |year=2010 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press}}</ref>}}
 |[[Civic nationalism]]{{refn|<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/nation-building-reboot-needed |title=Nation building reboot needed |date=18 January 2017 |newspaper=The Straits Times |first=Benny |last=Lim |access-date=19 November 2018 |archive-date=14 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114141325/https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/nation-building-reboot-needed |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="civnat">{{cite journal |title=Singapore: The Politics of Inventing National Identity |last=Ortmann |first=Stephan |date=2009 |journal=Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=23–46 |doi=10.1177/186810340902800402 |issn=1868-4882 |doi-access=free}}</ref>}}
 |[[Secularism]]<ref>{{cite book |page=36 |first=Bilveer |last=Singh |title=Understanding Singapore Politics |publisher=World Scientific Publishing Company |year=2017}}</ref>
 |[[Third Way]]{{refn|<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wee |first=C.J.W.-L. |title="Asian Values", Singapore, and the Third Way: Re-Working Individualism and Collectivism |journal=Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia |date=1999 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=332–358 |jstor=41057000 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41057000 |issn=0217-9520}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/pdf/10.1142/9789811220753_0001?download=true |doi=10.1142/9789811220753_0001 |chapter=Classical Liberalism as a New Third Way |title=Liberalism Unveiled |date=2021 |pages=1–24 |isbn=978-981-12-2074-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://dokumen.pub/liberalism-unveiled-forging-a-new-third-way-in-singapore-9811220743-9789811220746.html |title=Liberalism Unveiled: Forging a New Third Way in Singapore 9811220743, 9789811220746 }}</ref>}}
 |'''Historical:'''
 |[[Anti-communism]]{{efn|From 1961, became of low importance ever since the unofficial dissolution of the [[Barisan Sosialis]] in 1988, the [[Fall of Communism]] in 1989 and the end of the [[Cold War]] in 1991.}}<ref name=":6"/>
}}
| position         = [[Centre-right politics|Centre-right]]<ref name="singapura">{{cite book|author=Diane K. Mauzy and R.S. Milne|year=2002|title=Singapore Politics Under the People's Action Party|url=https://archive.org/details/singaporepolitic00mauz|url-access=limited|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-24653-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/singaporepolitic00mauz/page/n165 147]}}</ref>
| colours          = White⬜, red🟥, blue🟦
| slogan           = ''Changed World, Fresh Team, New Resolve – Securing a Brighter Future for You''{{efn|As of the 2025 general election.<ref>{{cite web |title=GE2025: PAP manifesto a roadmap to navigate changed world, says PM Wong |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ge2025-peoples-action-party-general-election-manifesto-lawrence-wong-5069756 |access-date=19 April 2025 |website=CNA}}</ref>}}
| footnotes        = {{cnote|A|The party was formerly part of the [[Socialist International]] (1954–1976).}}
| blank1_title     = [[Governing body]]
| blank1           = [[Central Executive Committee (PAP)|Central Executive Committee]]
| seats1_title     = [[Parliament of Singapore|Parliament]]
| seats1           = {{composition bar|87|99|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
| international    = ''None''{{cref|A}}
| website          = {{URL|https://www.pap.org.sg/|pap.org.sg}}
| country          = Singapore
}}
The '''People's Action Party''' ('''PAP''') is a major [[Conservatism|conservative]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Wan |first=Ming |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zgmmAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22conservative+People%27s+Action+Party%22&pg=PA33 |title=The Political Economy of East Asia: Striving for Wealth and Power |date=17 October 2007 |publisher=CQ Press |isbn=978-1-4833-0192-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cinar |first1=Emre |last2=Demircioglu |first2=Mehmet Akif |last3=Acik |first3=Ahmet Coskun |last4=Simms |first4=Chris |date=1 March 2024 |title=Public sector innovation in a city state: exploring innovation types and national context in Singapore |journal=Research Policy |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=104915 |doi=10.1016/j.respol.2023.104915 |issn=0048-7333 |doi-access=free}}</ref> political party in [[Singapore]] and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the [[Parliament of Singapore]], followed by the opposition [[Workers' Party of Singapore|Workers' Party]] (WP).<ref name="Rodan2">{{cite web |last=Rodan |first=Gary |title=The Internet and Political Control in Singapore |url=http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan002726.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224012234/http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN002726.pdf |archive-date=24 February 2017 |access-date=6 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Reyes |first=Sebastian |date=29 September 2015 |title=Singapore's Stubborn Authoritarianism |work=Harvard Political Review |url=http://harvardpolitics.com/world/singapores-stubborn-authoritarianism/ |url-status=dead |access-date=6 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130104926/http://harvardpolitics.com/world/singapores-stubborn-authoritarianism/ |archive-date=30 January 2018}}</ref>

The PAP was established in 1954 as a conventional [[centre-left]] party. Following its initial electoral success in [[1959 Singaporean general election|1959]], [[Prime Minister of Singapore|Prime Minister]] [[Lee Kuan Yew]] sought to reposition the party ideologically toward the [[centrism|centre]]. In pursuit of this objective, he expelled the party's [[Barisan Sosialis|leftist faction]] in 1961, during the period of [[Singapore in Malaysia|Singapore's merger with Malaysia]]. Over the course of the 1960s and since then, the PAP continued its ideological shift towards the [[centre-right]].<ref name="leelieu2">{{cite book |last=Lam |first=Peng Er |title=Lee's lieutenants: Singapore's old guard |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-86508-172-4}}</ref> After [[Independence of Singapore Agreement 1965|Singapore's separation from Malaysia and subsequent independence in 1965]], the majority of opposition parties, excluding the WP, boycotted the [[1968 Singaporean general election|1968 general election]]. Consequently, the PAP secured all parliamentary seats in that election. In the ensuing decades, the PAP consolidated its political dominance through successive electoral victories. It consistently formed the [[Government of Singapore|executive branch of government]] and exerted substantial influence over key national institutions, including the country's sole trade union, the [[National Trade Union Congress]] (NTUC), which is affiliated with the party, as well as the [[Singapore Civil Service|civil service]].<ref>{{cite journal |date=2016 |title=GIGA IAS Booth A9 at ICAS 10 Conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 20-23 July 2017 |journal=Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=204 |doi=10.1177/186810341603500312 |issn=1868-1034 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Between 1965 and 1981, the PAP was the sole political party represented in Parliament. This period of exclusive representation ended with the party's first electoral defeat in a [[1981 Anson by-election|1981 by-election]] in the [[Anson Constituency]], where the WP secured the seat. Despite this setback, the PAP has retained its political dominance. In every subsequent general election, the party consistently garnered over 60 percent of the popular vote and secured more than 80 percent of parliamentary seats, achieving [[landslide victories]] on each occasion. Having governed continuously for {{age in years|5 June 1959}} years, the PAP remains the dominant political force in Singapore, effectively operating within the framework of a ''[[de facto]]'' one-party state. It has maintained an unbroken two-thirds parliamentary [[supermajority]] enabling it to amend the [[Constitution of Singapore|Constitution]] at will. As of {{CURRENTYEAR}}, the PAP is the longest-serving uninterrupted ruling party among contemporary multi-party parliamentary democracies and holds the second-longest tenure of any governing party in modern history, surpassed only by Mexico's [[Institutional Revolutionary Party]] (PRI), which governed from 1929 to 2000.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Oliver |first1=Steven |last2=Ostwald |first2=Kai |date=2018 |title=Explaining Elections in Singapore: Dominant Party Resilience and Valence Politics |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-east-asian-studies/article/explaining-elections-in-singapore-dominant-party-resilience-and-valence-politics/B4313DB214400AF11ED31DC80F673611 |journal=Journal of East Asian Studies |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=129–156 |doi=10.1017/jea.2018.15 |issn=1598-2408 |s2cid=232329919}}</ref>

Positioned on the centre-right of Singapore's political spectrum, the PAP espouses a combination of [[social conservatism]] and [[economic liberalism]]. The party generally advocates [[free-market]] principles, favouring policies such as [[Taxation in Singapore|low taxation]], the absence of [[List of countries by tariff rate|tariffs]], [[List of countries by government spending as percentage of GDP|limited government expenditure]] relative to [[gross domestic product]] (GDP), [[regulatory economics|minimal economic regulation]] and the promotion of [[economic freedom]].<ref>{{cite news |date=2023-09-20 |title=S'pore ranked 'world's freest economy' by think-tank as Hong Kong loses spot for 1st time since 1970 |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-beats-hong-kong-to-become-world-s-freest-economy-for-first-time |access-date=2025-05-03 |work=The Straits Times |issn=0585-3923}}</ref> Nonetheless, the PAP occasionally engages in strategic [[Economic interventionism|state intervention]], reflecting elements of [[welfarism]]. A distinctive feature of its economic approach is the support for the development and expansion of [[state-owned enterprise]]s (SOEs), locally referred to as [[List of government-owned companies#Singapore|government-linked corporations]] (GLCs). These entities were initially established in response to the economic disruptions caused by the British military withdrawal from Singapore in 1971.<ref>{{cite web |title=British Military Withdrawal: From Crisis to Catalyst for Growth |url=https://www.sg101.gov.sg/economy/digging-deeper-case-studies/withdrawal/#:~:text=2%20minute%20read,Military%20Bases%20for%20Civilian%20Use |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=www.sg101.gov.sg}}</ref> GLCs played a central role in driving [[export-oriented industrialisation]], fostering [[economic development]] and [[job creation|generating employment]] across key sectors of the [[Economy of Singapore|economy]]. On social matters, the PAP endorses [[communitarian]] values and [[civic nationalism]]. A cornerstone of its social policy is the promotion of national cohesion through the integration of the country's major ethnic groups into a unified [[Singaporean]] identity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ortmann |first1=Stephan |date=December 2009 |title=Singapore: The Politics of Inventing National Identity |journal=Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=23–46 |doi=10.1177/186810340902800402 |s2cid=73649569 |doi-access=free}}</ref> 

== History ==
[[File:Mr. Lee Kuan Yew Mayoral reception 1965 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lee Kuan Yew]], the first [[Prime Minister of Singapore]] and one of the founders of the People's Action Party]]
[[Lee Kuan Yew]], [[Toh Chin Chye]] and [[Goh Keng Swee]] were involved in the [[Malayan Forum]], a London-based student activist group that was against [[Federation of Malaya|colonial rule in Malaya]] in the 1940s and early 1950s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwohR6juj-MC|title=Goh Keng Swee: A Public Career Remembered|last1=Desker|first1=Barry|last2=Guan|first2=Chong|last3=Kwa|first3=Chong Guan|date=2012|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=9789814291392}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQ-JAAAAQBAJ|title=Lee Kuan Yew: The Crucial Years|last=Josey|first=Alex|date=15 February 2013|publisher=Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd|isbn=9789814435499}}</ref> Upon returning to Singapore, the group met regularly to discuss approaches to attain independence in Malayan territories and started looking for like-minded individuals to start a political party. Journalist [[S. Rajaratnam]] was introduced to Lee by Goh.<ref>{{cite book|title=PAP 50 : Five Decades of the People's Action Party|last=Leong|first=Ching|publisher=People's Action Party|year=2004|location=Singapore}}</ref> Lee was also introduced to several English-educated left-wing students and Chinese-educated union and student leaders while working on the Fajar sedition trial and the [[1954 National Service riots|National Service riot]] case.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Kuan Yew|title=The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew|publisher=Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9m5PBAAAQBAJ|isbn=9789814561761|date=15 September 2012}}</ref>

===Formation===
The PAP was officially registered as a political party on 21 November 1954. [[Convenors]] of the party include a group of trade unionists, lawyers and journalists such as Lee Kuan Yew, [[Abdul Samad Ismail]], [[Toh Chin Chye]], [[Devan Nair]], [[S. Rajaratnam]], Chan Chiaw Thor, [[Fong Swee Suan]], Tann Wee Keng and [[Rajah & Tann|Tann Wee Tiong]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19541024-1.2.55|title=Nine Form New Political Party in Singapore|date=24 October 1954|work=The Straits Times|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=17 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817151523/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19541024-1.2.55|url-status=live}}</ref> The political party was led by Lee Kuan Yew as its secretary-general, with Toh Chin Chye as its founding chairman. Other party officers include Tann Wee Tiong, Lee Gek Seng, [[Ong Eng Guan]] and Tann Wee Keng.<ref>{{cite news|title=The PAP bosses|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19550712-1.2.133|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=12 July 1955|access-date=18 September 2017|archive-date=18 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118011740/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19550712-1.2.133|url-status=live}}</ref>

The PAP first contested the [[1955 Singaporean general election|1955 general election]] in which 25 of 32 seats in the legislature were up for election. In this election, the PAP's four candidates gained much support from the trade union members and student groups such as the [[University Socialist Club]], who canvassed for them.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Men in White: The Untold Story of Singapore's Ruling Political Party.. ISBN|last1=Yap|first1=Sonny|last2=Richard|first2=Lim|last3=Weng|first3=K. Leong|publisher=Straits Times Press|year=2010|isbn=978-9814266512|location=Singapore|pages=54}}</ref> The party won three seats, one by its leader [[Lee Kuan Yew]] for the Tanjong Pagar division and one by PAP co-founder [[Lim Chin Siong]] for the [[Bukit Timah]] division.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/c8a3566b-5380-11e4-859c-0050568939ad|title=Elected into the Legislative Assembly were (from left) …|date=3 April 1955|website=National Archives of Singapore|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818011532/http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/c8a3566b-5380-11e4-859c-0050568939ad|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19550403-1.2.10|title=The Results|date=3 April 1955|work=The Straits Times|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818012358/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19550403-1.2.10|url-status=live}}</ref> Then 22 years old unionist Lim Chin Siong was and remained the youngest Assemblyman ever to be elected to office. The election was won by the [[Labour Front]] headed by [[David Marshall (Singaporean politician)|David Marshall]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19550403-1.2.2|title=Labour Wins – Marshal Will Be Chief Minister|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818014002/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19550403-1.2.2|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 1956, Lim and Lee represented the PAP at the [[Merdeka|London Constitutional Talks]] along with Chief Minister [[David Marshall (Singaporean politician)|David Marshall]] which ended in failure as the British declined to grant Singapore [[Self-governance of Singapore|internal self-government]]. On 7 June 1956, Marshall, disappointed with the constitutional talks, stepped down as Chief Minister as he had pledged to do so earlier if self-governance was not achieved. He was replaced by [[Lim Yew Hock]], another Labour Front member.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1462_2009-02-18.html|title=Lim Chin Siong|author=Wong Hongyi|year=2009|work=Singapore Infopedia|publisher=National Library Board Singapore|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090728022721/http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1462_2009-02-18.html|archive-date=28 July 2009}}</ref> Lim pursued a largely [[anti-communism|anti-communist]] campaign and managed to convince the British to make a definite plan for self-government. The [[Constitution of Singapore]] was revised accordingly in 1958, replacing the Rendel Constitution with one that granted Singapore self-government and the ability for its own population to fully elect its Legislative Assembly.

PAP and left-wing members who were [[communists]] were criticised for inciting riots in the mid-1950s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19550922-1.2.2|title=Mr. Lim Sits on The Fence|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818013755/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19550922-1.2.2|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="centre-left">{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19550517-1.2.2|title=The Guilty Men – By Goode|date=17 May 1955|work=The Straits Times|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818012524/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19550517-1.2.2|url-status=live}}</ref> Lim Chin Siong, Fong Swee Suan and [[Devan Nair]] as well as several unionists were detained by the police after the [[Chinese middle schools riots]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19561028-1.2.5|title=Who's Who – The Top 15 Names|date=28 October 1956|work=The Straits Times|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818013327/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19561028-1.2.5|url-status=live}}</ref> Lim Chin Siong was placed under solitary confinement for close to a year, away from his other PAP colleagues, as they were placed in the Medium Security Prison (MSP) instead.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|author=Ministry of Finance|date=August 2015|title=INCOME GROWTH, INEQUALITY AND MOBILITY TRENDS IN SINGAPORE|url=https://app.mof.gov.sg/Portals/0/Feature%20Articles/Income%20Growth,%20Distribution%20and%20Mobility%20Trends%20in%20Singapore.pdf|journal=Ministry of Finance Occasional Paper|access-date=14 April 2016|archive-date=7 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407020634/https://app.mof.gov.sg/Portals/0/Feature%20Articles/Income%20Growth,%20Distribution%20and%20Mobility%20Trends%20in%20Singapore.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The number of PAP members imprisoned rose in August 1957, when PAP members from the trade unions (viewed as "communist or pro-communist") won half the seats in the Central Executive Committee (CEC). The "moderate" CEC members, including Lee Kuan Yew, Toh Chin Chye and others, refused to take their appointments in the CEC. Yew Hock's government again made a sweeping round of arrests, imprisoning all the "communist" members, before the "moderates" re-assumed their office.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ex-pap-man-recounts-1957-kelong-meeting|title=Ex-PAP man recounts 1957 'kelong meeting'|last=Leong|first=Weng Kam|date=10 June 2016|publisher=The Straits Times|access-date=19 August 2016|archive-date=21 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921184554/http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ex-pap-man-recounts-1957-kelong-meeting|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following this, the PAP decided to re-assert ties with the labour faction of Singapore in the hope of securing the votes of working-class Chinese Singaporeans, many of whom were supporters of the jailed unionists. Lee Kuan Yew convinced the incarcerated union leaders to sign documents to state their support for the party and its policies, promising to release the jailed members of the PAP when the party came to power in the next elections.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=buuiCgAAQBAJ|title=Leaders of Singapore|last=Chew|first=Melanie|date=29 July 2015|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=9789814719452|pages=80}}</ref> Ex-[[Barisan Sosialis]] member Tan Jing Quee claims that Lee was secretly in collusion with the British to stop Lim Chin Siong and the labour supporters from attaining power because of their huge popularity. Quee also states that Lim Yew Hock deliberately provoked the students into rioting and then had the labour leaders arrested.<ref name="comet">{{cite book|title=Comet in our sky: Lim Chin Siong in history|author=Tan Jing Quee|publisher=[[Insan]]|year=2001|isbn=983-9602-14-4}}</ref> Greg Poulgrain of Griffiths University argued that "Lee Kuan Yew was secretly a party with Lim Yew Hock in urging the Colonial Secretary to impose the subversives ban in making it illegal for former political detainees to stand for election".<ref name="comet" /> Lee Kuan Yew eventually accused Lim Chin Siong and his supporters of being communists working for the Communist United Front, but evidence of Lim being a communist cadre was a matter of debate as many documents have yet to be declassified.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Seng |first=Kah |date=20 December 2014 |title=British archives, personal accounts, confirm extent of Communist United Front activities here: PM Lee |work=The Straits Times |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/british-archives-personal-accounts-confirm-extent-of-communist-united-front-activities |url-status=live |access-date=31 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831132942/http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/british-archives-personal-accounts-confirm-extent-of-communist-united-front-activities |archive-date=31 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kah Seng |first=Loh |date=15 January 2015 |title=An annotated bibliography of Operation Coldstore – New Mandala |language=en-US |work=New Mandala |url=http://www.newmandala.org/the-history-writes-itself-an-annotated-bibliography-of-operation-coldstore/ |url-status=dead |access-date=31 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831140342/http://www.newmandala.org/the-history-writes-itself-an-annotated-bibliography-of-operation-coldstore/ |archive-date=31 August 2017}}</ref>

===First years in government===
[[File:ST31May1959.jpg|thumb|upright|''The Sunday Times'' the day after the 1959 election, reporting on the results and the PAP's victory]]
The PAP eventually won the [[1959 Singaporean general election|1959 general election]] under Lee Kuan Yew's leadership.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19590531-1.2.2|title=2.45 am-PAP ROMPS HOME WITH LANDSLIDE VICTORY|date=31 May 1959|work=The Straits Times|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818013508/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19590531-1.2.2|url-status=live}}</ref> The election was also the first one to produce a fully elected parliament and a cabinet wielding powers of full internal [[self rule|self-government]]. The party has remained in power ever since, winning a majority of seats in every successive general election. Lee, who became the first [[Prime Minister of Singapore|Prime Minister]] and who would eventually helm this post for the next 31 years,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19590602-1.2.2|title=LEE IS PREMIER|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818013439/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19590602-1.2.2|url-status=live}}</ref> requested the British for the release of the left-wing members of the PAP, including the likes of [[Devan Nair]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19590603-1.2.99|title=Unlocking The Gates|date=3 June 1959|work=The Straits Times|access-date=21 August 2017|archive-date=21 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821091338/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19590603-1.2.99|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1961, the Singapore Trades Union Congress (STUC), which had backed the PAP back in 1959, split into the pro-PAP [[National Trades Union Congress]] (NTUC) and the non-affiliated and more [[leftist]] Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU). The SATU collapsed in 1963, following the now PAP-led government's crackdown and detention of its leaders during [[Operation Coldstore]] and its subsequent official deregistration on 13 November 1963. The NTUC remains as the sole [[trade union centre]] in the country today and continues to have a close relationship with the PAP.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1237_2008-11-30.html |title=Singapore Association of Trade Unions |access-date=12 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401154609/http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1237_2008-11-30.html |archive-date=1 April 2009}}</ref>

====Great Split of 1961====
{{see also|1961 Singaporean by-elections}}
In 1961, disagreements on the proposed merger plan to form [[Malaysia]] and long-standing internal party power struggle led to the split of the left-wing group from the PAP.<ref>{{cite news|title=When Lee lost control of PAP for 10 days|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=12 September 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610727-1.2.3|title=PAP 'rebels' to form an opposition party|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818013843/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610727-1.2.3|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610710-1.2.4|title=Merger issue: Dr. Toh hits out at six top unionists|access-date=17 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818012549/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610710-1.2.4|url-status=live}}</ref>

Although the "communist" faction had been frozen out of ever taking over the PAP, other problems had begun to arise internally. [[Ong Eng Guan]], the former Mayor of the City Council after PAP's victory in the [[1957 Singapore City Council election]], presented a set of "16 Resolutions" to revisit some issues previously explored by Chin Siong's faction of the PAP: abolishing the PPSO, revising the Constitution, and changing the method of selecting cadre members.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy|url=https://archive.org/details/economicoriginsd00acem|url-access=limited|last1=Acemoglu|first1=Daron|last2=Robinson|first2=James A.|publisher=Cambridge Press|year=2005|pages=[https://archive.org/details/economicoriginsd00acem/page/n24 8]–10|isbn=9780521855266}}</ref>{{rp|82}}

Although Ong's 16 Resolutions originated from the left-wing faction led by Lim Chin Siong, that faction had only reluctantly asked the PAP leadership to clarify its position on them,<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Thum|first=Ping Tjin|date=Nov 2013|title='The Fundamental Issue is Anti-colonialism, Not Merger': Singapore's "Progressive Left", Operation Coldstore, and the Creation of Malaysia|journal=ARI Working Paper|issue=211}}</ref> as they still thought that the party with Lee Kuan Yew at the helm was a better alternative than Ong who was regarded as mercurial and a tyrant.<ref name=":1" /> However, Lee took the stance taken by the left-wing PAP members as a lack of confidence in his leadership. This issue caused a rift between the "moderate" PAP members (led by Lee) and the "left-wing" faction (led by Lim).

Ong was then expelled, and he resigned his Assembly seat to challenge the government to a by-election in Hong Lim in April 1961, where he won 73.3% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sg-elections.com/by-election/1961-4/hong-lim.html|title=Singapore Legislative Assembly By-Election April 1961 > Hong Lim|website=singapore-elections.com|access-date=19 August 2016|archive-date=1 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601144636/http://singapore-elections.com/by-election/1961-4/hong-lim.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This was despite the fact that Lee Kuan Yew had made a secret alliance with [[Fong Chong Pik]], the leader of the [[Communist Party of Malaya]] (CPM), to get the CPM cadres to support the PAP in the by-election.<ref name=":6" />

====Barisan Sosialis====
The breakaway group of members formed the [[Barisan Sosialis]] with Lim Chin Siong as secretary-general.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Fajar Generation: The University Socialist Club and the Politics of Postwar Malaya and Singapore|last1=Poh|first1=Soo K|last2=Tan|first2=Jing Quee|last3=Koh|first3=Kay Yew|publisher=SIRD|year=2010|isbn=9789833782864|location=Petaling Jaya|pages=59–60}}</ref> Aside from the Chinese union leaders, lawyers Thampoe Thamby Rajah and Tann Wee Tiong,<ref>{{cite news|title=Lawyers Rajah, Tann join Barisan Socialis|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610815-1.2.49|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=15 August 1961|access-date=18 September 2017|archive-date=30 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830151144/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19610815-1.2.49|url-status=live}}</ref> several members from the University Socialist Club such as [[James Puthucheary]] (uncle of [[Janil Puthucheary]]) and [[Poh Soo Kai]] joined the party.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The University Socialist Club and the Contest for Malaya: Tangled Strands of Modernity|last=Loh|first=Kah S|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|year=2012|isbn=978-9089644091|location=Amsterdam|pages=24–25}}</ref> 35 of 51 branches of the PAP and 19 of 23 branch secretaries defected to Barisan.

===Merger years 1963–1965===
{{see also|PAP-UMNO relations}}
After gaining independence from Britain, Singapore joined the federation of Malaysia in 1963. Although the PAP was the ruling party in the state of Singapore, the PAP functioned as an opposition party at the federal level in the larger Malaysian political landscape. At that time and until the [[2018 Malaysian general election|2018 general election]], the federal government in Kuala Lumpur was controlled by a coalition led by the [[United Malays National Organisation]] (UMNO). However, the prospect that the PAP might rule Malaysia agitated UMNO. The PAP's decision to contest federal parliamentary seats outside Singapore and the UMNO decision to contest seats within Singapore breached an unspoken agreement to respect each other's spheres of influence and aggravated [[PAP–UMNO relations]]. The [[clash of personalities]] between PAP leader Lee Kuan Yew and Malaysian [[Prime Minister of Malaysia|Prime Minister]] [[Tunku Abdul Rahman]] resulted in a crisis and led to Rahman forcing Singapore to leave Malaysia on 9 August 1965. Upon independence, the nascent People's Action Party of Malaya, which had been registered in Malaysia on 10 March 1964, had its registration cancelled on 9 September 1965, just a month after Singapore's exit. Those with the now non-existent party applied to register People's Action Party, Malaya which was again rejected by the Malaysian government, before settling with the [[Democratic Action Party (Malaysia)|Democratic Action Party]] (DAP).

===Post-independence, 1965 to present===
[[File:People's Action Party general election rally, Tampines Stadium, Singapore - 20110505-04.jpg|thumb|240px|A PAP election rally at [[Tampines Stadium]]]]
The PAP has held an overwhelming majority of seats in the [[Parliament of Singapore]] since 1966, when the opposition Barisan Sosialis (Socialist Front) resigned from Parliament after winning 13 seats following the [[1963 Singaporean general election|1963 general election]], which took place months after a number of their leaders had been arrested in [[Operation Coldstore]] based on accusations of being communists affliated with the [[Communist Party of Malaya]] (CPM).<ref name="comet" />

It subsequently achieved a monopoly in an expanding parliament (winning every parliamentary seat) for the next four elections ([[1968 Singaporean general election|1968]], [[1972 Singaporean general election|1972]], [[1976 Singaporean general election|1976]] and [[1980 Singaporean general election|1980]]). Opposition parties returned to the legislature at a [[1981 Anson by-election|1981 by-election]]. The [[1984 Singaporean general election|1984 general election]] was the first election in 21 years in which opposition parties won seats. From then until [[2006 Singaporean general election|2006]], the PAP faced four opposition MPs at most. Opposition parties did not win more than four parliamentary seats from 1984 until [[2011 Singaporean general election|2011]] when the [[The Workers' Party (Singapore)|Workers' Party]] (WP) won six seats and took away a [[Group Representation Constituency]] (GRC) for the first time for any opposition party, as well as until [[2020 Singaporean general election|2020]] by which an opposition party had won more than one GRC, which was also achieved by the WP.

Even so, the PAP still holds a [[supermajority]] in the legislature, to the point that Singapore is effectively a [[dominant party system]] similar to Japan's [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) rule of the country.<ref>{{cite news |title=How the LDP dominates Japan's politics |url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/10/28/how-the-ldp-dominates-japans-politics |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=11 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101154455/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/10/28/how-the-ldp-dominates-japans-politics |archive-date=1 November 2021 |date=28 October 2021}}</ref> With its supermajority, the PAP has always had the ability to amend the [[Constitution of Singapore]] at will, including the introduction of multi-member constituencies under the GRC system (in 1988) or the [[Nominated Member of Parliament]] (NMPs) scheme (in 1990), which has helped strengthened the government's dominance and control of Parliament.<ref name="Tan2012">{{cite journal|last1=Tan|first1=Kenneth Paul|title=The Ideology of Pragmatism: Neo-liberal Globalisation and Political Authoritarianism in Singapore|journal=Journal of Contemporary Asia|date= 2012|volume=42|issue=1|pages=67–92|doi=10.1080/00472336.2012.634644|s2cid=56236985}}</ref>

==Leadership transitions==
The longtime governing party of [[Singapore]], spans both past and present, but notably occurred in the mid-1980s where the first generation of PAP leaders in the [[Central Executive Committee (PAP)|CEC]] and the [[Cabinet of Singapore]] ceded power to a second generation of leaders.

===First to second generation===
By 1984, the "old guard" (first generation of party leaders) had been governing Singapore for approximately a quarter of a century. Aging leadership was a key concern, and then-Prime Minister of Singapore [[Lee Kuan Yew]] sought to groom younger leaders. In a speech on 29 September 1984, Lee argued that though the first generation of leaders was still "alert and fully in charge", to hang on to power until they had become feeble would allow power to be wrested from them, with no say in who their successors were.<ref name=quah>{{cite journal|last=Quah|first=Jon|title=Singapore in 1984: Leadership Transition in an Election Year|journal=Asian Survey|year=1985|volume=25|issue=2|page=225|jstor=2644306|doi=10.2307/2644306
}}</ref>

On 30 September, at the Ordinary Party Conference, power was transferred to the second generation of leaders, who were elected to the [[Central Executive Committee (PAP)|Central Executive Committee]] in place of all the old CEC members; of the 14-member CEC, Lee Kuan Yew remained the only "old guard" leader.<ref name=quah />

According to a report to the [[Library of Congress]], the old guard were confident in their "rectitude" and discretion in using their extensive political powers for Singapore's common good, but were not as confident in the next generation in doing so. Various limits on executive power were considered, in order to minimise the chances of corruption. These included a [[presidential elections in Singapore|popularly elected]] [[President of Singapore]] with substantial, nonceremonial powers.<ref name=locsuccession>{{cite web|last=LePoer|first=Barbara|title=Key political issues - Succession|url=http://countrystudies.us/singapore/53.htm|work=Countrystudies|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> This particular reform was enacted with a constitutional amendment in 1991.

The old guard also sought to eschew the use of PAP as a central political institution, seeking to "depoliticise" and disperse power among society, and sought to include low-level community leaders in government. A policy of cross-fertilisation was enacted: exchange of leaders, "elites" and talent would take place between private and government sectors, civilian and military segments of society, and between the party and the [[National Trades Union Congress]] (NTUC).<ref name=locsuccession />

===Second to third generation===
The next generation of leaders in the late 1980s was split between the factions of then [[Brigadier General]] [[Lee Hsien Loong]] and the older, more-experienced [[Goh Chok Tong]]. Lee Hsien Loong was supported by bureaucrats in the [[Ministry of Defence (Singapore)|Ministry of Defence]] and army colleagues in the [[Singapore Armed Forces]];<ref name=locsuccession /> [[Goh Chok Tong]] had more influence in the [[Singapore Civil Service]], the Cabinet and [[State-owned enterprise|government-linked companies]].<ref name=rworthington>{{cite book|last=Worthington|first=Ross|title=Governance in Singapore|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-7007-1474-2|url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/070071474X/?keywords=slapped&v=search-inside}}</ref>

Lee Kuan Yew himself remained Prime Minister and in the CEC until 1990, when he stepped down in favour of Goh Chok Tong as PM. [[Lee Hsien Loong]] became PM in 2004.

===Third to fourth generation===
On 23 November 2018, two fourth-generation leadership members (then–[[Ministry of Finance (Singapore)|Minister for Finance]] [[Heng Swee Keat]] and then–[[Ministry of Trade and Industry (Singapore)|Minister for Trade and Industry]] [[Chan Chun Sing]]) were elected as the First and Second Assistant Secretaries-General; these were, respectively, the second- and third-highest positions in the party. They replaced [[Teo Chee Hean]] and [[Tharman Shanmugaratnam]]. This represented a significant step of the leadership transition from the third generation to the fourth generation.

On 1 May 2019, Heng Swee Keat was appointed the new and sole Deputy Prime Minister, replacing Teo and Tharman. He was then widely seen as the 4th and next [[Prime Minister of Singapore|Prime Minister]] and Secretary-General of PAP succeeding incumbent [[Lee Hsien Loong]]. However, on 8 April 2021, Heng unexpectedly announced he would step down as the fourth-generation leader and step aside to pave the way for younger and healthier leaders to take over leadership, citing his health and age as reasons. Several Cabinet members were then seen as possible candidates to succeed Heng, including Minister for Finance [[Lawrence Wong]], Minister for Health [[Ong Ye Kung]], and Minister for Education [[Chan Chun Sing]].{{cn|date=April 2025}}

On 14 April 2022, Wong was selected as new leader of PAP's fourth-generation (4G) team, succeeding Heng.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/lawrence-wong-prime-minister-4g-leader-lee-hsien-loong-announcement-2626176 |title= Finance Minister Lawrence Wong endorsed as leader of 4G team: PM Lee |work=ChannelNewsAsia |location= Singapore |date=14 April 2022}}</ref> Wong received an "overwhelming majority" of support in the consultation process, surpassing that of other nominees.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/singapore-pm-lee-signals-lawrence-wong-becomes-new-successor |title=Singapore PM Lee Signals Lawrence Wong Becomes New Successor |website=www.bloombergquint.com |date=14 April 2022}}</ref> His candidacy was unanimously endorsed by the cabinet and subsequently by the PAP [[Member of parliament|MPs]] at a party caucus on 14 April.<ref name= "Wong">{{Cite news |url= https://sg.news.yahoo.com/lawrence-wong-endorsed-as-leader-of-singapores-pap-4-g-team-104721122.html |title=Lawrence Wong selected as leader of Singapore's PAP 4G team: PM Lee |website=sg.news.yahoo.com |date=14 April 2022}}</ref> On 4 December 2024, he was elected Secretary-General of People's Action Party, with an endorsement from Lee Hsien Loong.<ref>{{Cite news |title= Orderly transitions in political leadership cannot be taken for granted: SM Lee in last speech as PAP chief |url= https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/lee-hsien-loong-pap-secretary-general-leadership-transition-lawrence-wong-handover-4767291 |date=24 November 2024 |work=ChannelNewsAsia |location= Singapore |first=Vanessa |last=Lim}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=PAP announces new central executive committee; Lawrence Wong officially elected secretary-general |url= https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/pap-cec-lawrence-wong-secretary-general-four-co-opted-4786521 |date=4 December 2024 |work=ChannelNewsAsia |location= Singapore}}</ref>

== Organisation ==
[[File:People's Action Party supporters, Greenridge Secondary School, Singapore - 20110427-04.jpg|thumb|240px|People's Action Party activists during the [[2011 Singaporean general election|2011 general election]]]]
[[File:People's Action Party headquarters, New Upper Changi Road 310522.jpg|thumb|240px|People's Action Party headquarters in New Upper Changi Road]]
During its initial years, the party had adopted a traditional [[Leninism|Leninist]] form of party organisation, together with a vanguard cadre from its [[Labour movement|labour]]-leaning faction. The PAP Executive later expelled the leftist faction in 1961, bringing the ideological basis of the party into the centre and later in the 1960s moving further to the right.

In the beginning, there were about 500 so-called temporary [[Cadre (politics)|cadres]] appointed,<ref name="DianeMilne">{{cite book|author=Diane K. Mauzy and R.S. Milne |year=2002 |title=Singapore Politics Under the People's Action Party |url=https://archive.org/details/singaporepolitic00mauz |url-access=limited |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-24653-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/singaporepolitic00mauz/page/n59 41]}}</ref> however the current number of cadres is unknown, with the register of cadres being kept confidential. In 1988, [[Wong Kan Seng]] revealed that there were more than 1,000 cadres.

Cadre members have the right to attend party conferences and to vote for and elect and to be elected into the [[Central Executive Committee (PAP)|Central Executive Committee]] (CEC), the pinnacle of party leaders.

To become a party cadre, a party member must be first nominated by the MP in their branch. The candidate will then undergo three sessions of interview, each with four to five ministers or MPs and the appointment is then made by the CEC. About 100 candidates are nominated each year.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.singapore-window.org/80404st1.htm|title=The PAP cadre system|date=4 April 1998|newspaper=The Straits Times|location=Singapore|author=Koh Buck Song|access-date=10 January 2006|archive-date=8 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108023347/http://www.singapore-window.org/80404st1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Alternatively, party cadres are recruited based on recommendations by existing PAP cadres, prospective recruits for general election candidates are then internally shortlisted before 

===Central Executive Committee and Secretary-General===
Political power in the party is concentrated in the CEC, led by the secretary-general. The secretary-general of the PAP is the leader of the party. Due to PAP's electoral victories in every general election since 1959, the [[prime minister of Singapore]] has been by convention the secretary-general of the PAP since 1959. Key appointments in the CEC are usually Cabinet members.

From 1957 onward, the rules laid down that the outgoing CEC should recommend a list of candidates from which the cadre members can then vote for the next CEC. This has recently changed so that the CEC nominates eight members and the party caucus selects the remaining ten.

Historically, the position of Secretary-General was not considered for the office of Prime Minister, but rather the Central Executive Committee held an election to choose the prime minister. There was a contest between PAP Secretary-General [[Lee Kuan Yew]] and PAP Treasurer [[Ong Eng Guan]], prior to 1959. Lee subsequently won the leadership and was inaugurated as the first prime minister of Singapore.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lee Kuan Yew elected as Prime Minister of Singapore|url=http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20090910-166931.html|newspaper=AsiaOne|access-date=16 December 2012|date=10 September 2009|archive-date=14 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110214001920/http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20090910-166931.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===HQ Executive Committee===
The next lower level committee is the HQ Executive Committee (HQ EXCO) which performs the party's administration and oversees 14 sub-committees.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pap.org.sg/abt_leadership_hqexe.shtml |title=About the Leadership HQ Executive Committee|publisher=People's Action Party |access-date=10 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506032823/http://www.pap.org.sg/abt_leadership_hqexe.shtml |archive-date=6 May 2006}}</ref>

The sub-committees are the following:
# Branch Appointments and Relations
# Constituency Relations
# Information and Feedback
# New Media
# Malay Affairs
# Membership Recruitment and Cadre Selection
# PAP Awards
# Political Education
# Publicity and Publication
# Social and Recreational
# Women's Wing (WW)
# [[Young PAP]] (YP)
# PAP Seniors Group (PAP.SG)
# PAP Policy Forum (PPF)

===Young PAP and internet presence===
The Young PAP is the youth-wing of the party, serving as a [[youth organisation]] for young adults and students in Singapore who support the PAP and have an interest in [[politics]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Tan |first=Kenneth Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YNnbx98ixNkC |title=Renaissance Singapore? Economy, Culture, and Politics: Economy, Culture, and Politics |date=1 January 2007 |publisher=NUS Press |isbn=9789971693770 |pages=162, 231–236}}</ref> The incumbent chairman of the youth-wing is [[Janil Puthucheary]].<ref>{{cite news |date=2 December 2011 |title=People's Action Party Central Executive Committee |newspaper=People's Action Party |url=http://www.pap.org.sg/leadership.php/ |access-date=25 December 2012 |archive-date=7 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707094745/http://www.pap.org.sg/leadership.php |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chan Chun Sing is new Young PAP chairman |url=http://www.asiaone.com/print/News/Latest+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20121214-389561.html |access-date=6 September 2017 |website=www.asiaone.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 December 2000 |title=Young PAP members: Who they are |work=Today |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/today20001209-1.2.4.4 |access-date=6 September 2017}}</ref> The YP's predecessor, the PAP Youth Committee, was established in 1986, under [[Lee Hsien Loong]]'s tenure as Chairman. All PAP members under the age of 35 had then been grouped under the Youth Committee. In 1993, the Youth Committee was renamed the Young PAP. In an effort to attract members, then Chairman [[George Yeo]] said that people joining the YP could take positions different from [[Central Executive Committee (PAP)|central party leadership]]. The age limit was raised from 35 to 40.<ref name="rodan101">{{cite book |last=Rodan |first=Gary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2QCDIjRS2AC&dq=young+pap+singapore&pg=PA101 |title=Political oppositions in industrialising Asia |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-415-14865-8 |pages=101}}</ref> Memberships are issued through the PAP branches under each constituency in Singapore.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Getting out of apathy zone |url=http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100219-199622.html |access-date=6 September 2017 |website=www.asiaone.com}}</ref> By 2005, the committee had grown to more than 6,000 members.<ref>{{cite news |date=5 January 2008 |title=Young PAP taps S'poreans abroad |work=[[The New Paper]] |location=Singapore |url= |access-date=}}</ref> In 2010, then Vice-Chairman [[Zaqy Mohamad]] said the YP attracts over 1200 new members that year, an increase on the 1000 new members in 2009.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 November 2010 |title=More joining Young PAP: Zaqy |work=TODAY |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/today20101108-1.2.7.1 |access-date=6 September 2017}}</ref>

Since 1995, the youth-wing of the PAP has had an internet presence that aims to "correct 'misinformation' about Singapore politics or culture".<ref name="Mickey">{{cite magazine |date=1 July 1995 |title=Mickey Unbound |url=https://www.wired.com/1995/07/updata-41/ |url-status=live |magazine=Wired |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210032937/https://www.wired.com/1995/07/updata-41/ |archive-date=10 February 2016 |access-date=6 November 2017}}</ref> Under the urging of then [[Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts#Ministers|Minister for Information and the Arts]] George Yeo, Young PAP took charge of running several online websites to create an online presence for the party.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Tommi |date=14 March 1995 |title=Internet world watches as Young PAP enters cyberspace |work=The Straits Times}}</ref> After popular forum [[Sintercom]] was shut down in 2001, the Young PAP offered their own forum for moderated discussions.<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 August 2001 |title=Want to talk politics? |work=TODAY |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/today20010824-1.2.2 |access-date=6 September 2017}}</ref> They have since set up various blogs and social media accounts with multimedia content to engage the masses.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chang |first=Rachel |date=18 March 2010 |title=YP to close 2 Facebook pages |work=The Straits Times |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/issue/straitstimes20100318-1 |access-date=7 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 July 2008 |title=See you on Facebook |work=TODAY |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/today20080709-1.2.7 |access-date=6 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Au-Yong |first=Rachel |date=14 May 2014 |title=PAP responds to criticisms of viral video by its youth wing |work=The Straits Times |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/pap-responds-to-criticisms-of-viral-video-by-its-youth-wing |access-date=6 September 2017}}</ref>

In February 2007, it was reported by ''[[The Straits Times]]'' that the PAP's new media committee chaired by Minister [[Ng Eng Hen]], had initiated an effort to counter critics anonymously on the [[Internet]] "as it was necessary for the PAP to have a voice on cyberspace".<ref name=":3">{{cite news |author=Li Xueying |date=3 February 2007 |title=PAP moves to counter criticism of party, Govt in cyberspace |newspaper=The Straits Times |location=Singapore}}</ref> The initiative was divided by two sub-committees, one of which was in charge of strategising the campaigns and is co-headed by Minister [[Lui Tuck Yew]] and MP Zaqy Mohamad. The other sub-committee—new media capabilities group led by MPs [[Baey Yam Keng]] and [[Josephine Teo]] executed the strategies. The initiative was set up after the [[2006 Singaporean general election|2006 general election]] and also included around 20 IT-savvy PAP activists.<ref name=":3" />

=== Friends of the PAP ===
The PAP has a long-running programme, known as 'Friends of the PAP' by which it enlists individuals and organisations to assist in promoting its political goals. In 2002, secretary-general Goh Chok Tong announced an intention to expand this programme, which at the time was primarily limited to "establishment figures" in the public and private sector. He established a related scheme titled "Young Friends of the PAP" to attract Singaporeans below the age of 40 as well and explained that the intention was to "refresh" the PAP and improve the "quality" of PAP's membership. Membership as a 'Young Friend' was by invitation only, and the group was limited to about 500 people.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 December 2002 |title=PAP scouting for young to refresh its ranks |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes20021203-1.2.27.4.3 |work=[[The Straits Times]] |pages=3}}</ref>

According to local media reports, the Friends of the PAP programme had "fallen out of the public consciousness" after 2002. However, in June 2024, the PAP revived the Friends of the PAP programme and expanded it, now with a renewed focus on local [[Influencer marketing|social media influencers]], with the intention to connect with a wider and younger audience. The PAP did not respond to media queries about whether the Friends of the PAP programme remained invite-only or what the rules of engagement for members of the programme were.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wong |first=Pei Ting |date=22 June 2024 |title=Influencers, cause champions, businessmen: The new Friends of the PAP |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/influencers-cause-champions-businessmen-the-new-friends-of-the-pap |access-date=30 June 2024 |work=The Straits Times |issn=0585-3923}}</ref>

== Recruitment and retention ==
Unlike many political parties in numerous other countries that rely on [[grassroots]] mobilisation and overt rewards for party loyalty, the People's Action Party (PAP) in Singapore adopts a highly [[centralised]], [[Bottom-up and top-down design#Corporate environment (Performance management)|top-down]] and [[meritocratic]] approach to candidate [[recruitment]], in order to prevent [[nepotism]], [[cronyism]], [[branch stacking]], [[entryism]] or any form of [[primary election]]s.<ref name=":4">{{cite news |last=Mydans |first=Seth |date=2011-04-18 |title=In Singapore, the Party in Power Offers New Faces |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/world/asia/19iht-singapore19.html |access-date=2025-04-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Rather than progressing through local branches or [[Political faction|factional]] networks, prospective legislators are identified through "talent spotting" ([[executive search]]) by senior figures in [[government]] and industry.<ref name=":5">{{citation |last=Tan |first=Netina |title=Institutionalized Succession and Hegemonic Party Cohesion in Singapore |date=2014-12-29 |work=Party System Institutionalization in Asia |pages=49–73 |editor-last=Hicken |editor-first=Allen |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9781107300385A010/type/book_part |access-date=2025-04-30 |edition=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9781107300385.003 |isbn=978-1-107-04157-8 |editor2-last=Kuhonta |editor2-first=Erik Martinez}}</ref> This screening mechanism is designed to attract individuals with distinguished records in the [[civil service]], the [[Military|armed forces]], [[Academy|academia]], managerial executives from the [[private sector]] or [[Voluntary sector|non-profit sector]], or professional sectors such as [[engineering]], [[law]], [[finance]], [[mass media]] and [[health care]]. This unique [[preselection]] invitation system is designed to maintain the [[Technocracy|technocratic]], meritocratic, [[realpolitik]] and [[Pragmatism|pragmatic]] character of the PAP, and to avert any form of [[Dictatorship#Personalist|personalist dictatorships]], [[populism]] and [[political polarization]].<ref>{{cite web |title=GE2025: Singaporeans must reject populism, polarisation and post-truth politics, says PAP's Murali Pillai |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ge2025-murali-pillai-populism-jurong-east-bukit-batok-rally-pap-5094831 |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=CNA}}</ref>

Prospective candidates first emerge through recommendations by PAP activists, corporate leaders, Members of Parliament and senior civil servants.<ref name=":4" /> Each year, roughly one hundred individuals—many of whom have studied or worked abroad—are invited to "tea sessions" with 2–3 serving ministers, during which they engage in in-depth discussions lasting up to two and a half hours (sometimes unbeknownst initially by the interviewee, of the true intent of the tea session(s), which is an [[euphemism]] for informal prospecting interviews by the PAP, for candidacy in upcoming [[General elections in Singapore|Singapore general elections]]).<ref name=":7">{{cite news |date=2025-04-18 |title=Ex-AIC chief Dinesh Vasu Dash answered two calls to serve: To fight Covid-19 and to join the PAP |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/ex-aic-chief-dinesh-vasu-dash-answered-two-calls-to-serve-to-fight-covid-19-and-to-join-the-pap |access-date=2025-04-30 |work=The Straits Times |issn=0585-3923}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{cite web |title=Deep Dive GE2025 Podcast: PAP's Elysa Chen on being 'kicked into politics' and overcoming imposter syndrome |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/podcasts/ge2025-elysa-chen-pap-bishan-toa-payoh-deep-dive-podcast-5093841 |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=CNA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=OLEH-OLEH TEMASEK: Bila Teh Mencuit Rasa |url=https://berita.mediacorp.sg/komentar/oleh-oleh-temasek-bila-teh-mencuit-rasa-906246 |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=BERITA Mediacorp |language=ms}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Wanna be a PAP MP? He is the Minister to drink tea with. |url=https://mothership.sg/2015/12/wanna-be-a-pap-mp-he-is-the-minister-to-drink-tea-with/ |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=mothership.sg}}</ref> Those shortlisted then face two formal interviews conducted by a high-level panel at party headquarters; successful interviewees meet again with ministers, though final approval rests with the Central Executive Committee (CEC) before the successful interviewees are "invited to join politics".<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Administrator |date=2025-04-09 |title=Oh, for the good old days? • Michael Barr |url=https://insidestory.org.au/oh-for-the-good-old-days/ |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=Inside Story}}</ref> In the lead-up to an election, approved candidates are assigned to shadow incumbent MPs, and they receive training in public speaking and media communications. 

Furthermore, a small number of recruits—typically five or six per electoral cycle—are selected for additional psychological assessment based on a Shell-Oil-developed appraisal system. These candidates undergo a day-and-a-half examination of more than 1,000 questions to evaluate their personality and disposition, and are then earmarked as potential ministerial talent.<ref name=":5" /> While the PAP presents this elaborate, multi-stage process as a means of upholding "meritocracy" by choosing the "best man or woman for the job", critics argue that the heavy reliance on elite networks and [[professional]] pedigrees renders the system fundamentally [[Elitism|elitist]] and prone to [[groupthink]] rather than genuinely open to wider society, especially the [[working class]] who may share a different [[Socioeconomic status|socioeconomic]] environment and resulting [[worldview]].<ref name=":5" />

Although only a fraction of prospective short-listed candidates are selected to represent the party at general elections, not everyone invited to join the PAP's candidate pipeline accepts the offer from the PAP.<ref name=":5" /> Many decline for personal or professional reasons—some encounter employer restrictions, others face familial opposition or simply feel that politics is not for them. Likewise, when it comes to retaining serving PAP MPs in Singapore, despite the elevated salaries for ministers and Members of Parliament in Singapore, a small number also choose not to seek re-election or step aside before any given election, citing similar personal, family, lifestyle or career considerations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Have you had tea yet? A recent chat with an old friend at Our Tampines… {{!}} Chairul Fahmy H. |url=https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chairulfahmy_have-you-had-tea-yet-a-recent-chat-with-activity-7284061385867632642-iBD-/ |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=www.linkedin.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2025-04-22 |title=Singapore election 2025: Nee Soon MPs Louis Ng, Carrie Tan and Derrick Goh to step down from politics |url=https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/singapore/ge2025-nee-soon-mps-louis-ng-carrie-tan-and-derrick-goh-step-down-politics |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=The Business Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=GE2025: Five one-term MPs step down as PAP seeks refreshed team, highest number in recent polls |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ge2025-one-term-mps-pap-refreshed-team-5086026 |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=CNA}}</ref>

== Ideology ==
{{Conservatism in Singapore|Parties and organisations}}

===Asian democracy===
Professor Hussin Mutalib from the [[National University of Singapore]] (NUS) opines that the PAP has often set forth the idea of Asian democracy and values, drawing from a notion of [[Asian culture]] and [[Confucianism]] to construct ideological bulwarks against [[Western democracy]]. He added that for founding prime minister [[Lee Kuan Yew]], "Singapore would be better off without Western-style liberal democracy".<ref>{{cite book|author=Hussin Mutalib|year=2004|title=Parties and Politics. A Study of Opposition Parties and the PAP in Singapore|publisher=Marshall Cavendish Adademic|isbn=981-210-408-9|page=20}}</ref>

Consequently, the governance of the PAP has occasionally been characterised by some observers, especially in the [[Western world|West]], as semi-authoritarian by liberal democratic standards or having turned Singapore into a [[nanny state]].<ref name="Tan2007">{{cite journal |last1=Tan |first1=Kenneth Paul |date=2007 |title=Singapore's National Day Rally speech: A site of ideological negotiation |journal=Journal of Contemporary Asia |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=292–308 |doi=10.1080/00472330701408635 |s2cid=145405958}}</ref> According to Professor Kenneth Paul Tan from the NUS, the PAP proclaim that many [[Singaporeans]] continue to vote for the party as economic considerations, pragmatism and stability triumph over accountability and checks and balances by opposition parties.<ref name="Tan2007"/>

===Economic policies===
{{see also|Government of Singapore Investment Corporation|Temasek Holdings}}
The party [[Macroeconomics|economic ideology]] has always accepted the need for some [[Social welfare|welfare spending]] and for pragmatic [[economic interventionism]]. However, [[free-market]] policies have been popular since the 1980s as part of the wider implementation of a [[meritocracy]] in [[civil society]], and Singapore frequently ranks extremely highly on indices of [[economic freedom]] published by [[Liberal theory of economics|economically liberal]] organisations such as the [[World Bank]] and the [[International Monetary Fund]]. Singapore is also the only Asian country with the top AAA sovereign rating from the "Big Three" [[credit rating agencies]] of [[S&P]], [[Moody's]] and [[Fitch Ratings|Fitch]].{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Lee Kuan Yew said in 1992: "Through [[Hong Kong]] watching, I concluded that state welfare and subsidies blunted the individual's drive to succeed. I watched with amazement the ease with which Hong Kong workers adjusted their salaries upwards in boom times and downwards in recessions. I resolved to reverse course on the welfare policies which my party had inherited or copied from [[Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party]] policies".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzbr.org.nz/documents/speeches/speeches-99/optimism_for_the_new-millennium.doc.htm |title=Optimism for the New Millennium. |date=9 December 1999 |access-date=10 May 2006 |publisher=Rotary Club of Wellington North |author=Roger Kerr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060307184005/http://www.nzbr.org.nz/documents/speeches/speeches-99/optimism_for_the_new-millennium.doc.htm |archive-date=7 March 2006}}</ref>

Notably, since Singapore's independence in 1965, the party has also supported the creation of [[state-owned enterprise]]s, known within Singapore as [[List of government-owned companies|Government-linked Corporations (GLCs)]], in order to jumpstart [[industrialisation]], spearhead [[economic development]] and lead to [[economic growth]] (primarily [[job creation]]) in various sectors of the [[Economy of Singapore|Singaporean economy]] as there was a lack of private sector funds and expertise, particularly in the early years of nationhood. Various GLCs were formed to pursue strategic sectors such as in ship building and repair ([[Sembcorp Marine]], [[Keppel Corporation]]), aviation and defence ([[Singapore Airlines]], [[ST Engineering]]), telecommunications ([[Singtel]]), real estate ([[CapitaLand]]) and development finance ([[DBS Bank]]) amongst others. In addition, various GLCs were set up as [[Public–private partnership|private-public partnerships]], notable as joint ventures or strategic alliances with foreign companies or investors with relevant expertise, particularly in the [[petrochemical]]s and [[Oil refinery|oil refining]] industries.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ling |first1=Hui Tan |last2=D. Ramirez |first2=Carlos |title=Singapore, Inc. Versus the Private Sector: Are Government-Linked Companies Different? |url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2003/wp03156.pdf |website=imf.org |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |access-date=8 January 2024 |date=July 2003}}</ref>

===Social policies===
Since the early years of the PAP's rule, the idea of [[Survivalism|survival]] as a small and vulnerable country with hostile neighbours has been a central theme of [[Politics of Singapore|Singaporean politics]]. According to Diane Mauzy and R. S. Milne, most analysts of Singapore have discerned four major [[ideologies]] of the PAP, namely [[Realpolitik|pragmatism]], [[meritocracy]], [[multiracialism]] and [[Asian values]]/[[communitarianism]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=Christopher Tremewan|year=1996|title=The Political Economy of Social Control in Singapore (St. Anthony's Series)|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-312-15865-1|page=105}}</ref> The PAP also [[Civic nationalism|advocates nationalism not based on ethnocentrism]], encouraging a united Singaporean identity while also recognising the [[Demographics of Singapore|main ethnic groups that make up the country]].<ref name="civnat"/>

In January 1989, then President [[Wee Kim Wee]] in his opening address to the [[7th Parliament of Singapore]] stated that Singapore must adopt a set of shared national values. He was of the view that a national ideology was useful to bond Singaporeans together by preserving the cultural heritage of the core communities of Singapore, and upholding certain common values that would capture the essence of being a Singaporean.<ref name="SV">{{cite web |last=Tin Seng |first=Lim |title=Shared Values |url=https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=194d7f99-c8b6-408e-86cf-8ebfb8547d28 |website=www.nlb.gov.sg |publisher=[[National Library Board]] |access-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108063620/https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=194d7f99-c8b6-408e-86cf-8ebfb8547d28 |archive-date=8 January 2024}}</ref> In response, the government set up a committee as a follow-up to Wee's proposal, and in January 1991, the PAP formally introduced a [[white paper]] on "Shared Values" for the country, which consists of five national values to forge a national identity.<ref name="SV"/> These values were: nation before community and society above self; family as the basic unit of society; regard and community support for the individual; consensus instead of contention, and racial and religious harmony. They were also set as a contrast against the "more Westernised, individualistic, and self-centred outlook on life" and to uphold the "traditional Asian ideas of morality, duty and society".<ref name="SV"/>

At an Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) dialogue held on 2 July 2015 and chaired by [[Fareed Zakaria]], Prime Minister [[Lee Hsien Loong]] spoke about the need to maintain a [[Jeffersonian democracy|Jeffersonian]] [[Meritocracy|natural aristocracy]] in the system to instill a culture of respect and to avoid [[anarchy]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Transcript of Dialogue with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the SG50+ Conference on 2 July 2015 |url=https://www.pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/transcript-dialogue-prime-minister-lee-hsien-loong-sg50-conference-2-july-2015 |work=Prime Minister's Office |access-date=8 January 2024 |date=27 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2015/09/03/unnatural-aristocrats|title=Unnatural aristocrats|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=28 July 2018 |archive-date=28 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728201035/https://www.economist.com/china/2015/09/03/unnatural-aristocrats|url-status=live}}</ref> In November 2019, Lee stated at a party convention that the PAP must not allow the "disconnect between the masses and the elite seen in other countries to take root in Singapore".<ref>{{cite web |last=Tee |first=Zhuo |title=PAP must not allow split between masses and elite to take root, says PM Lee Hsien Loong |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/pap-convention-pap-must-not-allow-split-between-masses-and-elite-to-take-root-says-pm-lee |website=The Straits Times |access-date=8 January 2024 |date=10 November 2019}}</ref> During the election campaign in July 2020, Lee's estranged brother over [[38 Oxley Road]], [[Lee Hsien Yang]], accused the PAP of [[elitism]] as one of his explanations of joining the [[Progress Singapore Party]] (PSP).<ref>{{cite web |author=Faris Mokhtar |title=Singapore election: Lee Hsien Yang says PAP blind to 'real anger' |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3092211/singapore-election-pms-brother-lee-hsien-yang-says-pap |website=South China Morning Post |publisher=Bloomberg |access-date=8 January 2024 |date=7 July 2020}}</ref> In a 2024 interview, Lee Hsien Loong criticised "[[woke]]ness", claiming that it "causes life to be burdensome" and saying that "he did not want Singapore to go in that direction".<ref>{{cite web |author=Anthony Chia |date=16 May 2024 |title=PM Lee Hsien Loong's Interview with Local Media – Section 3: Social Safety Nets and Social Cohesion (May 2024) |url=https://www.pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/PM-Lee-Hsien-Loong-English-Interview-Social-Safety-Nets-and-Social-Cohesion-May-2024 |access-date=21 February 2025 |website=Prime Minister's Office Singapore}}</ref>

===Views on other ideologies===
Particularly during the climate of the [[Cold War]], the party was openly hostile to [[communist]] or [[left-wing]] political ideologies despite a brief joint alliance with the [[Labour movement|pro-labour]] co-founders of the PAP during the party's early years, who were eventually [[Operation Coldstore|accused of being communists and arrested]]. Nevertheless, Singapore formally joined the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] (NAM) in 1970 and did not openly align with the [[Capitalist Bloc]]. In 1987, as part of [[Operation Spectrum]], the PAP government arrested various individuals under accusations of plotting to overthrow the government and to establish a [[communist state]]. Since the 2010s, the party while remaining largely conservative was seen by some observers as to have adopted a more [[Centre-left politics|centre-left]] tack in certain areas in order to remain electorally dominant.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Azhar|first1=Saeed|last2=Chalmers|first2=John|title=Singapore's rulers hope a nudge to the left will keep voters loyal|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-election/singapores-rulers-hope-a-nudge-to-the-left-will-keep-voters-loyal-idUSKCN0R60XS20150906|access-date=21 November 2017|work=[[Reuters]]|date=6 September 2015|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034259/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-election/singapores-rulers-hope-a-nudge-to-the-left-will-keep-voters-loyal-idUSKCN0R60XS20150906|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[socialism]] practised by the PAP during its first few decades in power was of a pragmatic kind as characterised by the party's rejection of [[nationalisation]]. According to [[Chan Heng Chee]], by the late 1970s the intellectual credo of the government rested explicitly upon a philosophy of self-reliance, similar to the [[rugged individualism]] of the [[Anglo-Saxon model|American brand of capitalism]]. Despite this, the PAP still claimed to be a [[socialist party]], pointing out its regulation of the private sector, activist intervention in the economy and social policies as evidence of this.<ref>Driven by Growth: Political Change in the Asia-Pacific Region edited by James W. Morley</ref> In 1976, the PAP formally resigned from the [[Socialist International]] (SI) after the [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Dutch Labour Party]] had initially proposed to expel the PAP on allegations of [[indefinite detention]] of [[political prisoner]]s, alluding to [[Chia Thye Poh]].<ref>{{cite web|title=PAP bows out of Socialist International |url=http://www.wp.org.sg/news/news_articles/pap_socialistint.htm |publisher=[[Workers' Party of Singapore]] |date=June 1976 |access-date=4 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917160621/http://www.wp.org.sg/news/news_articles/pap_socialistint.htm |archive-date=17 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1 June 1976 |title=Main Singapore Party Quits The Socialist International |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/01/archives/main-singapore-party-quits-the-socialist-international.html |access-date=12 March 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===Symbolism===
The PAP symbol, which is a [[Flash and circle|red flash and blue circle]] on white, stands for action inside multicultural unity. It also appears on party flags on parades. PAP members at party rallies have customarily worn a uniform of white shirts and white trousers which symbolises incorruptibility and purity of the party's ideologies of the government.<ref>{{cite web |title=Our Party |url=https://www.pap.org.sg/our-party/ |website=People's Action Party |access-date=8 November 2021}}</ref> [[Lee Kuan Yew]] acknowledged that the Flash and Circle was adopted from the [[British Union of Fascists]], but that the colors where changed to better represent the PAP.<ref>{{cite news |last=Burton |first=John |date=7 May 2006 |title=Observer from Singapore |url=https://www.ft.com/content/297c2b22-ddee-11da-af29-0000779e2340 |work=[[Financial Times]] |location=London |access-date=3 November 2023}}</ref>

==Leadership==
===List of chairmen===
{|class="wikitable"
!Name
!colspan="2" |Term of office
!|Time in office
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Toh Chin Chye|{{small caps|Toh}} Chin Chye]]'''
|21 November 1954
|5 January 1981
|{{age in years and days|1954|11|21|1981|1|5}}
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Ong Teng Cheong|{{small caps|Ong}} Teng Cheong]]'''
|5 January 1981
|16 August 1993<br />
|{{age in years and days|1981|1|5|1993|8|16}}
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Tony Tan]]'''
|1 September 1993
|3 December 2004
|{{age in years and days|1993|9|1|2004|12|3}}
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Lim Boon Heng|{{small caps|Lim}} Boon Heng]]'''
|3 December 2004
|1 June 2011
|{{age in years and days|2004|12|3|2011|6|1}}
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Khaw Boon Wan|{{small caps|Khaw}} Boon Wan]]'''
|1 June 2011
|23 November 2018
|{{age in years and days|2011|6|1|2018|11|23}}
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Gan Kim Yong|{{small caps|Gan}} Kim Yong]]'''
|23 November 2018
|26 November 2022
|{{age in years and days|2018|11|23|2022|11|26}}
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Heng Swee Keat|{{small caps|Heng}} Swee Keat]]'''
|26 November 2022
|July 2025
|{{age in years and days|2022|11|26}}
|}

===List of secretaries-general===
{|class="wikitable"
!|Name
!colspan="2" |Term of office
!|Time in office
!|Refs
|-
| align="center" |'''[[Lee Kuan Yew|{{small caps|Lee}} Kuan Yew]]'''
| 21 November 1954
| 3 August 1957
|{{age in years and days|1954|11|21|1957|8|3}}
|{{sfn|Yap|Lim|Leong|2010|p=55–57}}{{sfn|Yap|Lim|Leong|2010|p=99}}
|-
|align="center"|'''[[T. T. Rajah]]'''
|13 August 1957
|3 September 1957
|{{age in years and days|1957|8|13|1957|9|3}}
|{{sfn|Yap|Lim|Leong|2010|p=100}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Rajah quits as leader of PAP|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19570904-1.2.12|accessdate=9 December 2012 |work=The Straits Times |date=4 September 1957 |language=en-SG}}</ref>
|-
|align="center" |'''[[Lee Kuan Yew|{{small caps|Lee}} Kuan Yew]]'''
|20 October 1957
|14 November 1992
|{{age in years and days|1957|10|20|1992|11|14}}
|{{sfn|Yap|Lim|Leong|2010|p=111}}{{sfn|Jayakumar|2021|p=710}}
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Goh Chok Tong|{{small caps|Goh}} Chok Tong]]'''
|15 November 1992
|6 November 2004
|{{age in years and days|1992|11|15|2004|11|6}}
|{{sfn|Jayakumar|2021|p=710}}{{sfn|Jayakumar|2021|p=712}}
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Lee Hsien Loong|{{small caps|Lee}} Hsien Loong]]'''
|7 November 2004
|4 December 2024
|{{age in years and days|2004|11|7|2024|12|4}}
|{{sfn|Jayakumar|2021|p=712}}
|-
|align="center"|'''[[Lawrence Wong]]'''
|4 December 2024
|''Incumbent''
|{{age in years and days|2024|12|4}}
|{{sfn|Jayakumar|2021|p=712}}
|}

===Central Executive Committee===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+As of 4 December 2024, the Central Executive Committee comprises the following members:{{refn|{{cite web |url=https://www.pap.org.sg/whos-who/cec/ |title=Central Executive Committee |author-link=People's Action Party |author=People's Action Party |publisher=People's Action Party |date=2023 |access-date=20 July 2023}}}}
!Title
!Name
|-
|Chairman
|[[Heng Swee Keat]]
|-
|Vice-Chairman
|[[Masagos Zulkifli]]
|-
|Secretary-General
|[[Lawrence Wong]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |Assistant Secretaries-General
|[[Chan Chun Sing]]
|-
|[[Desmond Lee (Singaporean politician)|Desmond Lee]]
|-
|Treasurer
|[[K. Shanmugam]]
|-
|Assistant Treasurer
|[[Ong Ye Kung]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |Organising Secretaries
|[[Grace Fu]]
|-
|[[Edwin Tong]]
|-
| rowspan="9" |Members
|[[Chee Hong Tat]]
|-
|[[Indranee Rajah]]
|-
|[[Lam Pin Min]]
|-
|[[Ng Chee Meng]]
|-
|[[Tan See Leng]]
|-
|[[Vivian Balakrishnan]]
|-
|[[Sim Ann]]
|-
|[[Desmond Choo]]
|-
|[[Lee Hsien Loong]]
|}

==Current Members of Parliament==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Name
! Constituency 
|-
| [[Liang Eng Hwa]]
| [[Bukit Panjang SMC]]
|-
| [[Low Yen Ling]]
| [[Bukit Gombak SMC]]
|-
| [[Henry Kwek]]
| [[Kebun Baru SMC]]
|-
| [[Gan Siow Huang]]
| [[Marymount SMC]]
|-
| [[Gho Sze Kee]]
| [[Mountbatten SMC]]
|-
| [[Ng Chee Meng]]
| [[Jalan Kayu SMC]]
|-
| [[Eric Chua]]
| [[Queenstown SMC]]
|-
| [[Patrick Tay]]
| [[Pioneer SMC]]
|-
| [[Alex Yeo]]
| [[Potong Pasir SMC]]
|-
| [[Melvin Yong]]
| [[Radin Mas SMC]]
|-
| [[Poh Li San]]
| [[Sembawang West SMC]]
|-
| [[Desmond Choo]]
| [[Tampines Changkat SMC]]
|-
| [[Yip Hon Weng]]
| [[Yio Chu Kang SMC]]
|-
| [[Cai Yinzhou]]
|rowspan="4"| [[Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC]] 
|-
| [[Chee Hong Tat]]
|-
| [[Elysa Chen]]
|-
| [[Saktiandi Supaat]]
|-
| [[Tan See Leng]]
|rowspan="4"|[[Chua Chu Kang GRC]] 
|-
| [[Choo Pei Ling]]
|-
| [[Jeffrey Siow]]
|-
| [[Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim]]
|-
| [[Vivian Balakrishnan]]
|rowspan="4"| [[Holland–Bukit Timah GRC]] 
|-
| [[Sim Ann]]
|-
| [[Christopher de Souza]]
|-
| [[Edward Chia]]
|-
| [[Josephine Teo]]
|rowspan="4"| [[Jalan Besar GRC]] 
|-
| [[Shawn Loh]]
|-
| [[Denise Phua]]
|-
| [[Wan Rizal]]
|-
| [[Lawrence Wong]]
|rowspan="4"| [[Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC]] 
|-
| [[Alex Yam]]
|-
| [[Zaqy Mohamad]]
|-
| [[Hany Soh]]
|-
| [[Lee Hsien Loong]]
|rowspan="5"| [[Ang Mo Kio GRC]] 
|-
| [[Darryl David]]
|-
| [[Nadia Ahmad Samdin]]
|-
| [[Jasmin Lau]]
|-
| [[Victor Lye]]
|-
| [[Dinesh Vasu Dash]]
|rowspan="5"| [[East Coast GRC]] 
|-
| [[Hazlina Abdul Halim]]
|-
| [[Tan Kiat How]]
|-
| [[Edwin Tong]]
|-
| [[Jessica Tan]]
|-
| [[Grace Fu]]
|rowspan="5"| [[Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC]]
|-
| [[Rahayu Mahzam]]
|-
| [[Murali Pillai]]
|-
| [[Lee Hong Chuang]]
|-
| [[David Hoe]]
|-
| [[Goh Pei Ming]]
|rowspan="5"| [[Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC]]
|-
| [[Seah Kian Peng]]
|-
| [[Tin Pei Ling]]
|-
| [[Diana Pang (Singaporean politician)|Diana Pang]]
|-
| [[Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim]]
|-
| [[K. Shanmugam]]
|rowspan="5"| [[Nee Soon GRC]] 
|-
| [[Jackson Lam]]
|-
| [[Lee Hui Ying]]
|-
| [[Goh Hanyan]]
|-
| [[Syed Harun Alhabsyi]]
|-
| [[Indranee Rajah]]
|rowspan="4"| [[Pasir Ris–Changi GRC]] 
|-
| [[Valerie Lee]]
|-
| [[Sharael Taha]]
|-
| [[Desmond Tan (politician)|Desmond Tan]]
|-
| [[Gan Kim Yong]]
|rowspan="4"| [[Punggol GRC]] 
|-
| [[Janil Puthucheary]]
|-
| [[Sun Xueling]]
|-
| [[Yeo Wan Ling]]
|-
| [[Ong Ye Kung]]
|rowspan="5"| [[Sembawang GRC]] 
|-
| [[Vikram Nair]]
|-
| [[Ng Shi Xuan]]
|-
| [[Gabriel Lam (Singaporean politician)|Gabriel Lam]]
|-
| [[Mariam Jaafar]]
|-
| [[Masagos Zulkifli]]
|rowspan="5"| [[Tampines GRC]] 
|-
| [[Baey Yam Keng]]
|-
| [[Charlene Chen]]
|-
| [[Koh Poh Koon]]
|-
| [[David Neo]]
|-
| [[Chan Chun Sing]]
|rowspan="5"| [[Tanjong Pagar GRC]] 
|-
| [[Foo Cexiang]]
|-
| [[Joan Pereira]]
|-
| [[Rachel Ong]]
|-
| [[Alvin Tan (politician)|Alvin Tan]]
|-
| [[Desmond Lee (Singaporean politician)|Desmond Lee]]
|rowspan="5"| [[West Coast-Jurong West GRC]]
|-
| [[Hamid Razak]]
|-
| [[Ang Wei Neng]]
|-
| [[Cassandra Lee (politician)|Cassandra Lee]]
|-
| [[Shawn Huang]]
|}

==Election results==
===Legislative Assembly===
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|-
!rowspan=3 | Election
!rowspan=3 | Leader
!rowspan=3 | Votes
!rowspan=3 | %
!colspan=5 | Seats
!rowspan=3 | Position
!rowspan=3 | Result
|-
!colspan=3 | Contested
!rowspan=2 | Total
!rowspan=2 | +/–
|-
!Seats
!Won
!Lost
|-
|[[1955 Singaporean general election|1955]]
|rowspan="3"|[[Lee Kuan Yew]]
|13,634
|8.7%
|4
|3
|1
|{{composition bar|3|25|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 3
|{{increase}} 3rd
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
|[[1959 Singaporean general election|1959]]
|281,891
|54.1%
|51
|43
|8
|{{composition bar|43|51|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 40
|{{increase}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|-
|[[1963 Singaporean general election|1963]]
|272,924
|46.9%
|51
|37
|14
|{{composition bar|37|51|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 6
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|}

===Dewan Rakyat===
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|-
!rowspan=3 | Election
!rowspan=3 | Leader
!rowspan=3 | Votes
!rowspan=3 | %
!colspan=6 | Seats
!rowspan=3 | +/–
!rowspan=3 | Result
|-
!colspan=3 | Contested
!rowspan=2 | Elected
!rowspan=2 | Appointed
!rowspan=2 | Total
|-
!Seats
!Won
!Lost
|-
|[[1964 Malaysian general election|1964]]
|[[Lee Kuan Yew]]
|42,130
|2.0%
|11
|1
|10
|{{composition bar|1|104|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{composition bar|12|55|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{composition bar|13|159|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 1
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|}

===Parliament===
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|-
!rowspan=3 | Election
!rowspan=3 | Leader
!rowspan=3 | Votes
!rowspan=3 | %
!colspan=6 | Seats
!rowspan=3 | Position
!rowspan=3 | Result
|-
!colspan=3 | Contested
!rowspan=2 | Walkover
!rowspan=2 | Total
!rowspan=2 | +/–
|-
!Seats
!Won
!Lost
|-
|[[1968 Singaporean general election|1968]]
|rowspan=6|[[Lee Kuan Yew]]
|65,812
|86.7%
|58
|7
|0
|51
|{{composition bar|58|58|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 21
|{{increase}} 1st
|{{yes2|Won all seats}}
|-
|[[1972 Singaporean general election|1972]]
|524,892
|70.4%
|65
|57
|0
|8
|{{composition bar|65|65|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 7
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Won all seats}}
|-
|[[1976 Singaporean general election|1976]]
|590,169
|74.1%
|69
|53
|0
|16
|{{composition bar|69|69|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 4
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Won all seats}}
|-
|[[1980 Singaporean general election|1980]]
|494,268
|77.7%
|75
|38
|0
|37
|{{composition bar|75|75|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 6
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Won all seats}}
|-
|[[1984 Singaporean general election|1984]]
|568,310
|64.8%
|79
|47
|2
|30
|{{composition bar|77|79|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 2
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|-
|[[1988 Singaporean general election|1988]]
|848,029
|63.2%
|81
|69
|1
|11
|{{composition bar|80|81|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 3
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|-
|[[1991 Singaporean general election|1991]]
|rowspan=3|[[Goh Chok Tong]]
|477,760
|61.0%
|81
|36
|4
|41
|{{composition bar|77|81|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 3
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|-
|[[1997 Singaporean general election|1997]]
|465,751
|65.0%
|83
|34
|2
|47
|{{composition bar|81|83|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 4
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|-
|[[2001 Singaporean general election|2001]]
|470,765
|75.3%
|84
|27
|2
|55
|{{composition bar|82|84|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 1
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|-
|[[2006 Singaporean general election|2006]]
|rowspan=4|[[Lee Hsien Loong]]
|748,130
|66.6%
|84
|45
|2
|37
|{{composition bar|82|84|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|-
|[[2011 Singaporean general election|2011]]
|1,212,514
|60.1%
|87
|76
|6
|5
|{{composition bar|81|87|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 1
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|-
|[[2015 Singaporean general election|2015]]
|1,579,183
|69.9%
|89
|83
|6
|0
|{{composition bar|83|89|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 2
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|-
|[[2020 Singaporean general election|2020]]
|1,527,491
|61.2%
|93
|83
|10
|0
|{{composition bar|83|93|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|-
|[[2025 Singaporean general election|2025]]
|[[Lawrence Wong]]
|1,564,770
|65.6%
|97
|87
|10
|5
|{{composition bar|87|97|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 4
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority}}
|}

===By-elections===
; Legislative Assembly 
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|-
! Election
! Leader
! Constituency<br/>contested
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! +/–
! Result
|-
|[[1957 Singaporean by-elections|1957]]
|rowspan=3|[[Lee Kuan Yew]]
|[[Tanjong Pagar SMC|Tanjong Pagar]]
|4,707
|37.0%
|{{composition bar|1|2|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{yes2|Won}}
|-
|[[1961 Singaporean by-elections|1961]]
|[[Anson Single Member Constituency|Anson]]<br />[[Hong Lim Single Member Constituency|Hong Lim]]
|5,872
|31.1%
|{{composition bar|0|2|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 2
|{{no2|Lost}}
|-
|[[1965 Hong Lim by-election|1965]]
|[[Hong Lim Single Member Constituency|Hong Lim]]
|6,398
|59.5%
|{{composition bar|1|1|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 1
|{{yes2|Won}}
|-
|}

; Parliament
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|-
!rowspan=3 | Election
!rowspan=3 | Leader
!rowspan=3 | Constituency<br/>contested
!rowspan=3 | Votes
!rowspan=3 | %
!colspan=5 | Seats
!rowspan=3 | Result
|-
!colspan=2 | Contested
!rowspan=2 | Walkover
!rowspan=2 | Total
!rowspan=2 | +/–
|-
!Won
!Lost
|-
|[[1966 Singaporean by-elections|1966]]
|rowspan=5|[[Lee Kuan Yew]]
|[[Bukit Merah Single Member Constituency|Bukit Merah SMC]]<br />[[Bukit Timah Single Member Constituency|Bukit Timah SMC]]<br />[[Chua Chu Kang Single Member Constituency|Chua Chu Kang SMC]]<br />[[Crawford Single Member Constituency|Crawford SMC]]<br />[[Joo Chiat Single Member Constituency|Joo Chiat SMC]]<br />[[Jurong Single Member Constituency|Jurong SMC]]<br />[[Paya Lebar Single Member Constituency|Paya Lebar SMC]]
|9,082
|82.9%
|1
|0
|6
|{{composition bar|7|7|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 7
|{{yes2|Won}}
|-
|[[1967 Singaporean by-elections|1967]]
|[[Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency|Bukit Panjang SMC]]<br />[[Havelock Single Member Constituency|Havelock SMC]]<br />[[Jalan Kayu Single Member Constituency|Jalan Kayu SMC]]<br />[[Tampines Single Member Constituency|Tampines SMC]]<br />[[Thomson Single Member Constituency|Thomson SMC]]
|9,407
|83.6%
|1
|0
|4
|{{composition bar|5|5|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 5
|{{yes2|Won}}
|-
|[[1970 Singaporean by-elections|1970]]
|[[Delta Single Member Constituency|Delta SMC]]<br />[[Havelock Constituency|Havelock SMC]]<br />[[Kampong Kapor Constituency|Kampong Kapor SMC]]<br />[[Ulu Pandan Constituency|Ulu Pandan SMC]]<br />[[Whampoa Constituency|Whampoa SMC]]
|14,545
|69.9%
|2
|0
|3
|{{composition bar|5|5|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{yes2|Won}}
|-
|[[1979 Singaporean by-elections|1979]]
|[[Anson Single Member Constituency|Anson SMC]]<br />[[Geylang West Single Member Constituency|Geylang West SMC]]<br />[[Mountbatten Single Member Constituency|Mountbatten SMC]]<br />[[Nee Soon Single Member Constituency|Nee Soon SMC]]<br />[[Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency|Potong Pasir SMC]]<br />[[Sembawang Single Member Constituency|Sembawang SMC]]<br />[[Telok Blangah Single Member Constituency|Telok Blangah SMC]]
|53,222
|72.7%
|5
|0
|2
|{{composition bar|7|7|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{yes2|Won}}
|-
|[[1981 Anson by-election|1981]]
|[[Anson Single Member Constituency|Anson SMC]]
|6,359
|47.1%
|0
|1
|0
|{{composition bar|0|1|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 1
|{{no2|Lost}}
|-
|[[1992 Marine Parade by-election|1992]]
|[[Goh Chok Tong]]
|[[Marine Parade GRC]]
|48,965
|72.9%
|4
|0
|0
|{{composition bar|4|4|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{yes2|Won}}
|-
|[[2012 Hougang by-election|2012]]
|rowspan=3|[[Lee Hsien Loong]]
|[[Hougang SMC]]
|8,223
|37.9%
|0
|1
|0
|{{composition bar|0|1|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{no2|Lost}}
|-
|[[2013 Punggol East by-election|2013]]
|[[Punggol East SMC]]
|12,856
|43.7%
|0
|1
|0
|{{composition bar|0|1|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 1
|{{no2|Lost}}
|-
|[[2016 Bukit Batok by-election|2016]]
|[[Bukit Batok SMC]]
|14,428
|61.2%
|1
|0
|0
|{{composition bar|1|1|hex={{party color|People's Action Party}}}}
|{{steady}}
|{{yes2|Won}}
|-
|}

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* [[PAP Community Foundation]]
* [[Party Whip of the People's Action Party]]
* [[Politics of Singapore]]
* [[List of political parties in Singapore]]
{{div col end}}

== References==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}
{{notelist}}

=== Sources ===
; Books
{{refbegin}}
* Goh, Cheng Teik (1994). ''Malaysia: Beyond Communal Politics''. Pelanduk Publications. {{ISBN|967-978-475-4}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Yap |first1=Sonny |last2=Lim |first2=Richard |last3=Leong |first3=Weng K. |author-link= |year=2010 |title=Men in White: The Untold Story of Singapore's Ruling Political Party |publisher=Straits Times Press |isbn=9789814266512 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bb2SQQAACAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Jayakumar |first=Shashi |year=2021 |title=A History of the People's Action Party, 1985-2021 |publisher=NUS Press |isbn=9789813251281 |url= }}
{{refend}}

; Online sources
{{refbegin}}
* [http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-11798.html "Singapore – People's Action Party"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051210021209/http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-11798.html |date=10 December 2005}}. [[Library of Congress Country Studies|Country Studies Series]] by the [[Federal Research Division]] of the [[Library of Congress]]. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|display=People's Action Party|d=Q371395|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|n=People's Action Party|v=no}}
{{scholia}}
{{Library resources box|onlinebooks=no|by=yes}}
* {{URL|https://www.pap.org.sg/}}

{{Portalbar|Conservatism|Politics|Singapore}}
{{Singaporean political parties}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Political parties in Asia]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1954]]
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[[Category:Conservative parties in Singapore]]
[[Category:Conservative parties in Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Social conservative parties]]
[[Category:Anti-communist parties]]