Valence Rules: Explaining Opposition Party Performance in Singapore’s 2025 General Elections

In Singapore’s 2025 general elections, Singapore’s three-tiered hierarchy of opposition parties was further consolidated.  The Worker’s Party emerged as the strongest opposition party with the best results. It won 10 elected seats and 2 non-constituency seats for a total of 12 seats in the 99-seat Singapore legislature, with a vote share of 50.1% against the ruling People’s Action Party in the constituencies that it contested. The Singapore Democratic Party and the Progress Singapore Party solidified their statuses as best accompanying bridesmaids. Seven other opposition parties were even further behind in their vote shares. Singapore voters’ obsession with valence perceptions of opposition parties continues to explain why the Workers’ Party remains so successful and why the other opposition parties continue to falter.