Leon Perera, 53, was a Workers' Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Aljunied GRC before his affair with fellow WP leader Nicole Seah was exposed, leading to their resignations.

Perera is married with two children -- a daughter and a son.

From NCMP to MP

In 2013, Perera joined as a WP member.

He said then: “We need a balanced political system. There needs to be more accountability and ownership of public policy outcomes. This can only come through political competition and debate.”

Perera made his debut in the 2015 General Election.

He joined the four-member WP team to contest East Coast GRC.

He ran alongside Gerald Giam, Daniel Goh, and Mohamed Fairoz Shariff.

They lost with 39.27 per cent of the vote, but were the third best-performing opposition team, allowing the WP to nominate Perera as an Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) in the 13^th Parliament.

Following the election, he was co-opted into the WP central executive committee, its top decision-making body, and was elected in the subsequent internal party elections and served on it until his resignation.

In the 2020 elections, Perera contested in Aljunied GRC with four other WP candidates, and won with 59.95 per cent of the vote, becoming an MP.

Within Aljunied GRC, he represented the Serangoon ward.

He also headed the party's Youth Wing, which saw party member Nicole Seah take over his role in 2021.

Perera was the head of WP's media team.

As an MP, Perera raised a motion on gender equality with fellow Workers' Party MP He Ting Ru.

He was also very vocal on matters concerning public accountability, and participated in debates over the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) in 2019 and the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act in 2021.

An Oxford graduate

Perera studied in the Anglo-Chinese School and Hwa Chong Junior College, and then went on to study in Exeter College, Oxford University under a Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarship.

At Oxford, Perera studied philosophy, politics and economics, where he was awarded Oxford’s Gibbs Prize in Politics before graduating with double first class honours.

Began his career in the public service

Upon graduation, Perera joined the Economic Development Board’s (EDB) International Business Development Division as a Senior Officer, serving first in the policy planning function supporting Singapore’s regional investments.

He then served as assistant head in the EDB’s Enterprise Development Division, assisting large Singaporean companies grow in the service sector, spanning logistics, education and health care, to information technology(IT) services, engineering and retail.

CEO of his own company

Perera then made the transition into the private sector, joining Asia Market Intelligence Business Consulting.

There, he established their Singapore office.

He organised and led business development and client liaison, while overseeing all consulting processes and output in the Southeast Asia region.

Perera then co-founded the Spire Research and Consulting Group in 2000 and served as CEO until 2021, expanding his business to more than 100 cities in 35 countries.

Perera became a regular speaker at international conferences and seminars and was frequently featured as a business commentator in regional print and television media.

An active volunteer before joining politics

Perera was also engaged in volunteerism, serving on the committee of local human rights organisation, Maruah, and as a Family Service Centre volunteer for 10 years.

He received a Long Service Award from the then Ministry of Community Development, Youth, and sports (MCYS) in 2005.

Top photos from Leon Perera Facebook