Current Pioneer SMC Member of Parliament Patrick Tay will again be fielded for the constituency in the 2025 General Election.
Tay beat two opposition candidates, one from PSP and an independent candidate, in 2020 to win with 61.98 per cent of the vote.
Pioneer was the only single-member constituency then that faced a three-cornered fight.
A lawyer by training, Tay is currently the assistant secretary-general in the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
He was first elected as an MP in 2011 for Nee Soon GRC, and then West Coast GRC in 2015.
Tay currently serves as chairman of West Coast Town Council.
Possible opposition
Tay will likely face a candidate from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), which has expressed their interest in contesting the SMC.
On Apr. 12, PSP Chairman Tan Cheng Bock, Secretary-General Leong Mun Wai, and First Vice-Chairperson Hazel Poa conducted concurrent walkabouts at three different SMCs – Pioneer (Tan), Marymount (Leong), and Kebun Baru (Poa) SMC.
They were each accompanied by PSP members.
Tan with Stephanie Tan and Lim Cher Hong, Leong with Jeffrey Khoo, and Poa with her husband, and PSP member, Tony Tan Lay Thiam.
PSP had competed in all three of these SMCs back in 2020.
At a doorstop after the walkabout, when asked if PSP would be contesting these areas. Tan, Leong and Poa all confirmed that PSP will field candidates in these areas, but declined to reveal who they would be fielding.
At a doorstop interview, Poa said that while one strategy would be to focus on running in a GRC, another would be to have either herself or Leong potentially compete in an SMC.
