Workers' Party | |
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Malay name | Parti Pekerja |
Chinese name | 工人党 Gōngrén Dǎng |
Tamil name | பாட்டாளிக் கட்சி Pāṭṭāḷik Kaṭci |
Abbreviation | WP |
Chairperson | Sylvia Lim |
Secretary-General | Pritam Singh |
Vice-Chairman | Faisal Manap |
Founder | David Marshall |
Founded | 3 November 1957 |
Preceded by | Labour Front |
Headquarters | 701 Geylang Rd #04-02 Singapore 389687 |
Youth wing | Workers' Party Youth Wing |
Ideology | |
Political position | Centre-left |
Colours | Light Blue Red Yellow |
Slogan | Make Your Vote Count |
Parliament | 8 / 103 |
Website | |
wp | |
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Organised labour |
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The Workers' Party (abbreviation: WP) is a major social democratic political party in Singapore and one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and the opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP). The WP sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and is currently the largest and oldest opposition party in Parliament, having contested every parliamentary election since 1959 against the dominant PAP.[3] Since the 1991 general election, the WP has been the only political party, other than the PAP, with elected Members of Parliament (MPs).
The WP was founded in 1957 by David Marshall, having previously led the more left-wing Labour Front (LF) to victory in 1955, forming a minority government and becoming the first Chief Minister of Singapore. After the British initially rejected his proposal for home rule, he resigned as leader of the LF and from his seat in 1957. After creating the WP, Marshall returned as its first representative in the Legislative Assembly as a Member for Anson in 1961, before resigning in 1963 after disagreements with some members of the party.[4] The party would thereafter decline in prominence during the 1960s and 1970s before its re-emergence in 1981, when party leader J. B. Jeyaretnam became the first opposition MP to be elected since Singapore's independence, having defeated the PAP's candidate at a by-election in Anson. Jeyaretnam was re-elected in 1984, but subsequently lost his seat in 1986 following a conviction for falsely accounting the party's funds, a conviction which he claimed was politically motivated. Former members of the WP also include former Law Society President Francis Seow as well as socialist activist Lee Siew Choh.[5]
Since 1991, the party's safe seat has been the constituency of Hougang, which was represented by Low Thia Khiang for two decades. The popularity of the party in Hougang has been attributed to the area's Teochew heritage and Low's personal affability.[6] Low moved to the constituency of Aljunied in 2011, where he led the first team from an opposition party to win a group representation constituency (GRC).[7] In 2020, the WP become the first opposition party to win multiple GRCs in a single general election. Positioning itself as a "check and balance" in Parliament, it supports a progressive approach to civic nationalism, reducing the voting age from 21 to 18, establishing a universal minimum wage, and providing more flexibility in regard to the Central Provident Fund.[8] In recent years, members of the WP have worn light blue uniforms during political campaigns to represent the party's support for blue-collar workers.