GE2020: PAP wins West Coast GRC with 51.69%

The incumbent retains its seats.

Darryl Laiu | Julia Yeo | July 11, 2020, 03:05 AM

The incumbent People’s Action Party (PAP) has won West Coast GRC with 51.69 per cent of the vote share.

The PAP team at West Coast GRC consists of S. Iswaran, Desmond Lee, Foo Mee Har, Rachel Ong, and Ang Wei Neng, while the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) lineup consists of Tan Cheng Bock, Jeffrey Khoo, Leong Mun Wai, Hazel Poa, and Loganathan Nadarajah.

PAP won 71,545 of the votes, while PSP had 66,871 votes, losing with 48.31 per cent of the total votes.

1,645 votes out of 138,416 votes were rejected.

West Coast GRC was formed as a four-man GRC in 1997, where Iswaran has been part of since its formation.

It later became a five-man GRC in 2001, and the now-defunct Ayer Rajah SMC was absorbed into West Coast GRC in 2006.

The previous Ayer Rajah SMC was held by former-PAP MP Tan Cheng Bock, who is the current secretary-general of PSP.

Tan represented Ayer Rajah SMC for six elections, from 1980 until he stepped down in 2006.

Closest fight for West Coast GRC since 1997

The result of the contest in West Coast GRC is the closest since its formation in 1997.

In 2011, PAP won the contest in the constituency with 66.66 per cent of the votes against Reform Party (RP), and saw its biggest win in 2015 with 78.57 per cent of the total votes.

The constituency saw two walkovers in 2001 and 2006.

Tan says he won't take NCMP seat

In an interview with Mothership, Tan said that he won't take a non-constituency MP (NCMP) seat in Parliament if his team qualifies for it.

However, he added that he would leave it to his members whether they want to take up the position.

In an interview with Straits Times, PSP's assistant secretary-general Leong Mun Wai also said that he would not take up the NCMP seat.

The party has not finalised its decision yet.

Top image via Fasiha Nazren, Lim Weixiang/Mothership.sg