Singapore People's Party

History

1994 - 2000 : Formation

SPP was founded on 21 November 1994 by Sin Kek Tong, who led a pro-Chiam See Tong faction out of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). Over two years, Sin stood as the pro-tem leader until Chiam joined the party and assumed leadership in December 1996, at the time the Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 1997 general election. Chiam then became the party's first Member of Parliament (MP) when he won the constituency of Potong Pasir at the election, where he also did under the SDP banner.

2001 - 2008 : As part of Singapore Democratic Alliance

In 2001, the SPP became a founding member of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), along with the National Solidarity Party (NSP), the Singapore Justice Party (SJP) and the Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS). Chiam became the founding Chairman of SDA, which aimed to provide a common grouping under which different opposition parties could stand as a political coalition in elections against the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).

At the 2001 general election, Chiam was returned to Parliament as MP for Potong Pasir. Though Chiam was the only SDA member to win an elected seat in Parliament, he was joined in Parliament by SDA member Steve Chia (leader of the National Solidarity Party) who became a non-constituency MP after securing 34.6% of the votes in the constituency of Chua Chu Kang, which was the highest percentage of the vote secured by a losing opposition candidate at the election. The result made Chiam the de facto leader of the opposition in Parliament, as the SDA had two representatives (Chiam and Chia), whereas the only other opposition party represented in Parliament (the Workers' Party) had only one (Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang).

At the 2006 general election, Chiam was again re-elected as MP for Potong Pasir. However, the SDA did not win any other seats. Though Chia increased his share of the vote in Chua Chu Kang to 39.63%, this was lower than the 43.9% gained by the Workers' Party in Aljunied GRC. The role of de facto leader of the opposition in Parliament therefore passed from Chiam to Low, the Workers' Party leader.

2009 - 2018 : Leaving the SDA and electoral defeats

In 2009 and 2010, Chiam spoke of the possibility of having Reform Party (RP) to join the SDA and attempted to bring RP into SDA. However, the rest of the leadership of SDA voted not to make a decision on the list of conditions. In October 2010, Chiam replaced SDA's secretary general, Desmond Lim, with Mohamad Hamim Aliyas during a central executive committee meeting of SPP. SPP founder and chairman Sin Kek Tong said Chiam's move is due to Lim opposing RP joining the SDA. However, in a SDA council meeting held shortly after, the council rejected the decision of Chiam and Lim remained as the secretary general of the SDA.

On 2 March 2011, SPP withdrew from the coalition due to a few reasons. Prior to exiting the coalition, the SDA Council voted to relieve Chiam as chairman three days earlier due to his health reasons and voted not decide on a list of conditions for RP, which Chiam had invited, to join the SDA.

At the 2011 general election, Chiam announced his intention to lead his team to contest the Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency (GRC), leaving his Potong Pasir ward to his wife, Lina Loh Woon Lee (Lina Chiam). This was Loh's debut in politics, despite supporting Chiam and campaigning with Chiam over his many years in politics. Chairman Sin was also fielded to contest the newly-formed Hong Kah North SMC, a ward which was formerly part of the Hong Kah GRC.

After polling day, the party was defeated in all of the contested constituencies, including Potong Pasir which was reclaimed by the PAP for the first time since 1984; consequently, Chiam's defeat ended his 27-year tenure in Parliament. However, Loh was offered a post for the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) as a result of being the best performing opposition candidate (amongst unelected candidates) after narrowly losing the election by 49.64% to the PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin's 50.36% (a margin of 114 votes). Overall, the SPP managed to clinch 41.42% (62,504 votes) of the total number of votes in the constituencies that it had contested.

Ahead of the 2015 elections (due to be held on 11 September), Chiam announced that he would not stand as a candidate for the elections, for the first time since his debut in 1976. Another opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party, that was led by Benjamin Pwee and Hamin Aliyas, joined the SPP to strengthen its team contesting Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC. New candidate Ravi Philemon replaced Sin as candidate for Hong Kah North, while Lina Chiam contested again in Potong Pasir. Former NSP member Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss joined the party prior, and contested Mountbatten SMC just as Chong did in the 2011 elections.

However, the absence of Chiam in the election saw their party suffer another major setback, not only did the party fail to win a parliamentary seat, their scores were overseen by large swings towards the PAP, one of which was Potong Pasir, where Lina Chiam managed to secure only 33.59% (down from the previous election's 49.64%) of the valid votes. Compared to the Workers' Party's performances (of East Coast GRC, Fengshan SMC and Punggol East SMC), it was not enough for Lina Chiam to secure her NCMP seat for a second term, thus ending their party's presence in Parliament since the party foundation. In terms of the party's overall vote, they garnered only 27.08% of the votes cast, a swing of -14.34% from the previous election.

On 1 March 2017, the party reported that former party's chairman Sin had died from prostate cancer two days earlier. In January 2018, it was reported that Jose Raymond, a former Press Secretary to Vivian Balakrishnan (who also served as Chief Executive of the Singapore Environment Council and current Minister of Foreign Affairs), had joined the SPP.

2019 - Present: Leadership of Steve Chia

On 4 September 2019, Chiam announced that he would be stepping down from the secretary-general position due to declining health, while Lina Chiam would be stepping down from the chairman position. The party's Facebook announced that they would be electing new leadership. On 16 October 2019, during the party's biennial Ordinary Party Conference, Chiam and Chong-Aruldoss stepped down from the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC). Four new faces were elected into the CEC. On 5 November 2019, Chia was elected as the new Secretary-General of the Singapore People's Party, along with Raymond as Chairman.

2020 General Election

Following the general election on 10 July 2020, the party lost to the PAP for the third consecutive election, on both of the contested constituencies (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC and Potong Pasir SMC), despite seeing a small vote swing against the PAP. Their party improved their vote share in the contested wards to 33.83%.

On 22 December 2020, Chairman Raymond announced that he would be retiring from politics, while revealing that the Assistant Secretary-General, Ariffin Sha, had resigned from the party in August. Vice-Chairman Williiamson Lee became Acting Chairman, while Ariffin's position was not filled. The SPP CEC accepted the resignations on 17 January 2021 and co-opted Khan Osman Sulaiman and Melvyn Chiu.

2025 General Election

The SPP contested five seats in GE2025. Steve Chia led a four-man team in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, consisting of himself, Melvyn Chiu, Lim Rui Xian and Muhammad Norhakim; ultimately securing 24.82% of the vote (21,944 votes) against the incumbent PAP team led by then-Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat. Williiamson Lee also contested Potong Pasir SMC, securing 22.46% of the vote (6,261 votes) against the incumbent PAP's Alex Yeo and PAR's Lim Tean.

Following the release of the election results, Secretary-General Steve Chia was notably disappointed with the outcome. In an interview with the Straits Times, he was said to have "mulled over deregistering the party", having described the results as being "very bleak".

Organisation

Central Executive Committee

Former elected members

Former Members of Parliament of Singapore (1965–present)

Electoral performance

Parliament

Due to a merger with the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) in the 2001 and 2006 elections, collective figures represent the SDA total inclusive of the SPP, while figures in parenthesis/brackets refer to the SPP only.

Seats contested

References

References

1. (5 November 2019). "SPP elects Steve Chia, Jose Raymond to top posts".
2. (6 November 2019). "Former NCMP Steve Chia takes over from Chiam See Tong as Singapore People's Party chief".
3. "ELD | 2006 Parliamentary General Election Results".
4. Kor, Kian Beng. (28 August 2009). "Chiam and Jeyaretnam in talks over tie-up". [[The Straits Times]].
5. Kor, Kian Beng. (8 May 2010). "Reform Party still in talks with SDA". [[The Straits Times]].
6. Kor, Kian Beng. (10 May 2010). "SDA-Reform Party alliance: On or off?". [[The Straits Times]].
7. Kor, Kian Beng. (12 October 2010). "Chiam wants to oust ex-protege from top post". [[The Straits Times]].
8. Kor, Kian Beng. (3 November 2010). "Rift widens between SDA leaders and Chiam". [[The Straits Times]].
9. Saad, Imelda. (2 March 2011). "GE: SDA says Chiam pulling SPP out of alliance - Channel NewsAsia". [[CNA (TV network).
10. Cheow, Xin Yi. (3 March 2011). "Chiam pulls party out of alliance".
11. (2015-08-13). "Kopi-tiam style introductions add 'flavour' to heartland politics".
12. (25 July 2015). "Lina Chiam wants to return to Potong Pasir". The Straits Times.
13. Ong, Justin. (30 August 2015). "SPP, DPP announce candidates for joint Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC team". Channel NewsAsia.
14. Ong, Justin. (29 August 2015). "DPP, SPP reach agreement on Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC". Channel NewsAsia.
15. Hoe, Yeen Nie. (22 August 2015). "SPP's Ravi Philemon to contest Hong Kah North SMC". Channel NewsAsia.
16. "SPP founder Sin Kek Tong dies at 72". Today.
17. "Chiam See Tong to step down as Singapore People's Party secretary-general next month: reports". Yahoo.
18. "Singapore People's Party". Facebook.
19. (16 October 2019). "Chiam See Tong steps down as SPP chief, ending storied political career that spanned more than four decades".
20. (17 October 2019). "4 new faces voted into Singapore People's Party CEC as veteran Chiam steps down".
21. (10 July 2020). "GE2020 official results: PAP wins Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in 3rd successive challenge by SPP".
22. (10 July 2020). "GE2020 official results: PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin wins third term as Potong Pasir MP with 60.69% of votes".
23. (22 December 2020). "SPP chairman Jose Raymond retires from politics to focus on his business".
24. Romero, Anna Maria. (2021-01-18). "SPP accepts chairman's resignation, will remain in Potong Pasir for next polls".
25. "ELD {{!}} 2025 Parliamentary General Election Results".
26. (2025-05-10). "GE2025: With a more discerning electorate, smaller opposition parties face an uncertain future". The Straits Times.
27. "Singapore Elections".