From West Coast GRC to Marymount SMC: 7 constituencies with the closest battles in GE2020

Singaporeans have a guaranteed General Election (GE) to look forward to in 2025.

With Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the helm for the first time, the stakes are high, especially given his party’s performance in GE2020.

While the People’s Action Party (PAP) secured a decisive supermajority, it got only 61.23% of the popular vote.

This result was the third-worst since independence, behind GE2011 and GE1991.

Which electoral divisions saw the closest battles that led to the underperformance?

1. West Coast GRC sees closest margin in GE2020

West Coast GRC was the site of the narrowest electoral contest in GE2020.

The constituency was made up of Ayer-Rajah-Gek Poh, West Coast, Boon Lay, Nanyang and Telok Blangah wards.

The PAP won with just 51.69% of the vote share, compared with the Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP’s) 48.32%, a margin of just 3.37%.

Despite fielding two ministers in S. Iswaran and Desmond Lee, the PAP suffered a 26.88% drop in vote percentage from GE2015.

The popularity of PSP’s Dr Tan Cheng Bock in the west likely contributed to this close match.

He had previously served as a PAP MP for 26 years in Ayer Rajah SMC, which would end up merged into West Coast GRC.

The Reform Party also cancelled its plan to make it a three-way race as they believed Dr Tan’s PSP team stood a better chance.

As such, whether Dr Tan will contest West Coast GRC for GE2025 will have a major impact on the results.

In 2023, the current PSP C...