One particular fact has stood out in the aftermath of this GE2020.

The Workers' Party secured 50.49 per cent of total votes in the six constituencies it contested in against the PAP.

This means that more people voted for the WP than the PAP collectively in the straight fights between the two sides.

In total, WP contested in four GRCs and two SMCs.

Out of the 553,118 valid votes cast, 279,245 went to the WP.

Sengkang GRC

WP: 60,136 (52.13%)

PAP: 55,214 (47.87%)

Number of Electors: 120,100

Abstained: 3,556

Votes: 116,544

Valid: 115,350

Rejected: 1,194

Aljunied GRC

WP: 85,603 (59.93%)

PAP: 57,244 (40.07%)

Number of Electors: 150,821

Abstained: 6,392

Votes: 144,429

Valid: 142,847

Rejected: 1,582

East Coast GRC

PAP: 61,009 (53.41%)

WP: 53,228 (46.59%)

Number of Electors: 121,644

Abstained: 6,014

Votes: 115,630

Valid: 114,237

Rejected: 1,393

Marine Parade GRC

PAP: 74,993 (57.76%)

WP: 54,850 (42.24%)

Number of Electors: 139,622

Abstained: 7,992

Votes: 131,630

Valid: 129,843

Rejected: 1,787

Hougang SMC

WP Dennis Tan: 15,416 (61.19%)

PAP Lee Hong Chuang: 9,776 (38.81%)

Number of Electors: 26,432

Abstained: 968

Votes: 25,464

Valid: 25,192

Rejected: 272

Punggol West SMC

PAP Sun Xueling: 15,637 (60.97%)

WP Tan Chen Chen: 10,012 (39.03%)

Number of Electors: 26,587

Abstained: 722

Votes: 25,865

Valid: 25,649

Rejected: 216

How to analyse this result?

There are a total of 31 constituencies and 93 seats in Parliament.

Altogether, WP contested 21 seats.

Even if WP won all of them, the PAP would likely still have the supermajority in Parliament.

And it does not mean that Workers' Party can do just as well if it simply contested more seats.

The tendency is for the vote share to decline if WP fielded more candidates in more constituencies, such as during GE2015.

If voters feel, for example, that PAP's majority might be threatened, they might swing back to the ruling party.

However, GE2020 has shown that the WP brand recognition is strong.

It fielded a relatively new team in Marine Parade and managed to snag 42.24 per cent of votes.

WP's decent showing in GRCs was also replicated by Progress Singapore Party and Singapore Democratic Party in SMCs.

The one-on-one close fights were seen in Marymount SMC, Bukit Batok SMC and Bukit Panjang SMC.

This election has elevated the WP to solid opposition status, which indicates that Singaporeans might have taken to heart the WP message of not giving the PAP a blank cheque.

Workers' Party brand premium

WP's brand premium is a real phenomenon.

Going by numbers alone, WP commands close to a 10 percentage points higher vote share than the next best-performing opposition party, the Progress Singapore Party.

Progress Singapore Party (PSP): 40.85 per cent

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP): 37.04 per cent

Singapore People's Party (SPP): 33.83 per cent

National Solidarity Party (NSP): 33.15 per cent

People's Power Party (PPP): 28.26 per cent

Reform Party (RP): 27.84 per cent

Red Dot United (RDU): 25.38 per cent

Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA): 23.67 per cent

People's Voice (PV): 21.26 per cent

Top photo via Workers' Party