Singapore: The Workers’ Party’s (WP) Andre Low and Eileen Chong snagged the two Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seats in the 15th parliament, as per the Elections Department’s announcement on Monday (May 19). Mr. Low, 34, put up a fight in Jalan Kayu SMC, which turned out to be the tightest race in the 2025 General Election. He managed to secure the highest percentage of votes among opposition candidates who didn’t get elected.
Ms. Chong, 33, threw her hat in the ring in Tampines GRC as part of the WP’s five-member team, which came in second with the highest percentage of votes among the unelected opposition candidates. The NCMP seats are usually reserved for top-performing opposition candidates who didn’t make the cut if the elected opposition candidates fall short of 12. With the WP successfully defending its 10 parliamentary seats, including Aljunied GRC, Sengkang GRC, and Hougang, two NCMP seats opened up. The Elections Department revealed that the Returning Officer reached out to the Tampines GRC WP candidates on May 9, asking them to pick a candidate for the NCMP seat by May 19.
The group made their decision, selecting Ms. Eileen Chong Pei Shan as the NCMP candidate, which they communicated to the Returning Officer on May 18, 2025. Both Ms. Chong and Mr. Low were first-time General Election contenders. Mr. Low faced off against labor chief Ng Chee Meng, 56, and secured 48.53 percent of the vote. The WP team in Tampines managed to grab 47.37 percent of the vote, losing to a PAP team led by Cabinet minister Masagos Zulkifli in a four-way contest. The WP Tampines team, led by party vice-chair Faisal Manap, featured four newbies, including Mr. Jimmy Tan, Dr. Ong Lue Ping, and Mr. Michael Thng. In 2016, revisions were made to the NCMP scheme, upping the minimum number of opposition MPs in parliament from nine to 12, and granting NCMPs the same voting rights as elected MPs.
