Gap between Singapore’s PAP, WP credibility scores narrows: survey

A rise in the proportion of young conservative voters has helped the ruling PAP to win the May 3 general election, an IPS survey shows

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Supporters of the opposition Workers Party and the ruling People’s Action Party show support for their political party at a nomination centre in Singapore on April 23. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:06pm, 2 Sep 2025Updated: 12:43am, 3 Sep 2025

The gap in the credibility scores separating Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) and main opposition the Workers’ Party (WP) is narrowing, while an uptick in young conservative voters contributed to the PAP’s triumph at the May election, a survey has revealed.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s first general election as PAP chief on May 3 bucked the trend of new leaders in the city state seeing a decline in the ruling PAP’s popular vote, with his party enjoying a vote-share swing in its favour by some 4 percentage points to 65.57 per cent from 61.24 per cent in the 2020 poll.

The party maintained its dominance, winning 87 of the 97 seats on offer, while the WP won the other 10 and came closest in several zones, earning them two non-constituency MP seats.

An Institute of Policy Studies’ (IPS) post-election survey, released on Tuesday, polled 2,056 Singaporeans on research firm YouGov’s Singapore panel and found that the percentage of respondents who agreed or strongly agreed that the PAP was a credible party fell 17 percentage points to 69 per cent in 2025, down from 86 per cent in 2020.

The WP’s approval also dropped, albeit by a smaller 14 percentage points, to 65 per cent from 79 per cent.

Meanwhile, the survey found that the proportion of conservative voters who wanted to maintain the status quo in 2025 increased to 25 per cent from 19 per cent in 2020.

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