PSP founder Dr Tan Cheng Bock retires from Singapore electoral politics, urges party to regroup after GE2025 loss

SINGAPORE, May 10 — Progress Singapore Party (PSP) founder and chairman Dr Tan Cheng Bock confirmed today that he will be stepping away from electoral politics, following the party’s disappointing performance in the country’s 2025 General Election last weekend.

Speaking ahead of a thank-you walkabout at West Coast Market Square with about 20 PSP members and volunteers today, Channel News Asia (CNA) reported that Dr Tan said he would remain active within the party but will no longer contest elections.

“At the end of the day, we didn’t do that well. I don’t want to blame anybody now,” said Dr Tan, who turned 85 in April.

The PSP failed to win any seats in Parliament and also lost its hold over the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) positions previously occupied by secretary-general Leong Mun Wai and first vice-chairman Hazel Poa.

The party saw a dip in vote share across the constituencies it contested, including in West Coast-Jurong West GRC, where it had come closest to unseating the People’s Action Party (PAP) in 2020.

Despite the setback, Dr Tan remained defiant and optimistic about the party’s future.

“And also to show to those who didn’t vote for us, we are not running away. We’ll be back soon. We’ll be back in maybe five years’ time,” he was quoted as saying.

“By then, I hope a younger team will take over and we hope the people will look at us in a different way.”

Dr Tan said he had contested this election not for personal political ambition — having previously served as an MP — but in the hopes of ushering a new generation of leaders into Parliament.

“I tried my best. I think maybe they think we’re not ready. But it’s OK, because if Workers’ Party took about 60 years to just gain 10 seats, I told them, don’t be discouraged,” he said.

The party, he added, is focused on preparing its younger members for leadership.

“We are looking forward to seeing how we can train them to understand what politics is and what it is like to represent the people.”

PSP secretary-general Leong Mun Wai echoed Dr Tan’s sentiment.

“PSP is not going to run away. We will reflect, regroup and return,” he said.

“At this moment, we cannot share much because we are still doing our internal deliberation. When we are ready, we promise that we’ll give a full presentation to all of you as to what PSP is going to do.”

According to CNA, party representatives did not take further questions from the media, citing a tight schedule for the rest of the day.