GE2025: PAP's Alex Yeo wins three-way fight for Potong Pasir
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SINGAPORE – Mr Alex Yeo of the PAP has won a three-cornered fight for Potong Pasir SMC, fending off Singapore People's Party (SPP) treasurer Williiamson Lee and People's Alliance for Reform (PAR) secretary-general Lim Tean.
Mr Yeo received 19,185 votes or 69.18 per cent – an improvement of about 9 percentage points for the ruling party compared with the 2020 General Election, where it garnered 60.67 per cent of the vote.
Of the remaining votes, 6,230 , or 22.47 per cent went to Mr Lee, while Mr Lim had 2,316 votes, or 8.35 per cent.
Mr Yeo, 46, replaces PAP stalwart Sitoh Yih Pin, who has stepped down after serving three terms in the single-seat constituency since 2011.
This is Mr Yeo's second election - he was part of the PAP slate for Aljunied GRC at the 2020 polls.
The lawyer, who is married with two children, served as branch chair of the Paya Lebar ward in Aljunied GRC, which has been held by the WP since 2011.
In his sole rally this election, Mr Yeo noted that no one can fill the shoes of leaders like Mr Sitoh and former opposition MP Chiam See Tong.
He added that he knew he had a lot of work to do to earn the trust of the residents.
Mr Chiam held Potong Pasir for 27 years before leaving to contest a GRC in 2011.
Mr Sitoh won the seat that year by a razor-thin margin of 114 votes.
He went on to defend his seat successfully against the SPP at the 2015 polls, winning 66.39 per cent of the vote, and again at the 2020 polls, garnering 60.67 per cent.
In the 2020 General Election, the constituency had just 18,551 voters.
Today, the number has surged to 30,971 – a 67 per cent jump– according to data released by the Elections Department.
About 61.5 per cent of its residents are aged 45 and below, compared with about 54.3 per cent in 2020 – according to The Straits Times' analysis using Department of Statistics data dated June 2024 – marking a demographic shift in a constituency once known for its greying population.
The transformation is largely driven by new Housing Board developments in the Bidadari estate, which has brought in young families.
Owing to the population spike, a portion of Potong Pasir was carved out and absorbed into the new five-member Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC for this election.
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