GE2025 surprises and new faces: Who are the election candidates you will be voting for

These are the 211 candidates standing for election in GE2025.

122 contested past elections. Five of them participated in previous elections but skipped GE2020.

Of those who contested GE2020, 67 are now standing in a different constituency. Some of these changes, though, were due to shifts in constituency boundaries.

Here’s a look at some of the biggest movements involving returning candidates.

WP’s vice-chairman Faisal Manap, who served as an Aljunied GRC MP for the past three terms, is contesting Tampines GRC instead.

Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, who had been expected to anchor Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, moved to Chua Chu Kang GRC.

Dr Tan will take the place of Deputy Prime Minister and Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, a four-term Chua Chu Kang GRC MP who has now been deployed to Punggol GRC.

In Punggol GRC, Mr Gan will face WP’s Harpreet Singh, a senior counsel who is contesting an election for the first time.

Across all the parties, there are 89 new faces in this election. This is the highest number of new faces ever, up from 76 in 2020.

14 WP candidates are first-timers, including Mr Singh. They make up more than half of the party’s slate.

PAP is fielding 32 new faces — its largest number in recent history.

Here’s how the candidates are split by background according to their occupations.

Within the PAP, candidates with a background in business, public service or law make up more than half of its slate.

There are 16 former public servants contesting the upcoming election, and five of them are newcomers. This is more than the 10 former public servants in the last election.

There are 15 PAP candidates who work or have worked at the National Trades Union Congress or NTUC-linked organisations, including newcomer Jackson Lam .

WP has the largest proportion of lawyers in its slate compared with other parties.

RDU is fielding 15 candidates this time, which is triple the number of candidates it fielded in 2020. Among opposition parties, this is the second-highest number of candidates, behind WP with 26. Its candidates come from a wide range of backgrounds, including IT, academia and culture.

There are 53 women candidates, up from 40 in GE2020. They come from diverse backgrounds, though business and law are the most common.

A few also have experience in the social service sector and media industries. They include Alexis Dang, a senior director at global advertising tech firm Teads. She is contesting Punggol GRC.

This is the highest number of women candidates fielded in Singapore’s recent history, although they still make up only about 25 per cent of the slate.

There are 44 candidates under the age of 40, up from 32 in GE2020.

The ages of candidates range between 24 and 85, and the median age is 48, slightly down from 49 in GE2020.

The youngest candidate is 24-year-old Heng Zheng Dao, a horticulturist who is contesting an election for the first time, with the People’s Power Party.

PSP chairman Tan Cheng Bock, 85, is the oldest candidate contesting GE2025. He was also the oldest candidate in GE2020.

A breakdown by parties reveals their age profile.

SDP has the highest median age of 59. All of its candidates are above 40, with the exception of 27-year-old Ariffin Sha, who is a legal executive and founder of news site Wake Up Singapore.

WP and SPP tie for the lowest median age of 45. Like it did in 2020, WP is fielding the youngest line-up, with about a third of its candidates below 40.