Why the multi-cornered fights did not matter

The results of the 2025 General Election have shown clearly that multi-cornered fights are inconsequential in Singapore, said political analysts.

- Rei Kurohi

Voters in this election preferred the familiar and the status quo, which meant giving their support to both the PAP and the WP, noted Associate Professor Chong Ja Ian from the National University of Singapore's department of political science.

"Parties that seemed less familiar saw a sharp drop in support, making multi-cornered fights less important," he added.

There were five such contests in this election, the highest number in decades. There were just two in the 2020 election and three in 2015.

Multi-cornered fights were "absolutely inconsequential" in this election, said political analyst Tan Ern Ser, adjunct principal research fellow and academic adviser at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Social Lab.

"The fact that the teams sent by the smaller parties paled in comparison to the more established party, like WP, was good enough reason for voters to choose the more viable, credible party," he added.

In the weeks leading up to the election, several opposition politicians said they wished to avoid multi-cornered fights which would split the opposition vote.

Two new alliances emerged, agreeing to avoid multi-cornered fights among their own members. The People's Alliance for Reform (PAR) brought the Democratic Progressive Party, the People's Power Party (PPP), Peoples Voice and the Reform Party under one banner, and an informal "coalition" was formed between the National Solidarity Party (NSP), Red Dot United (RDU), the Singapore People's Party (SPP) and the Singapore United Party (SUP).