SINGAPORE - Former Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang and fellow Aljunied GRC MP Faisal Manap received the highest number of votes during a "hotly contested" party central executive committee (CEC) election on Sunday.

They both garnered 70 votes, out of more than 100 cast by the cadres present.

A list of the poll results, received by The Straits Times, shows that 23 people put their names up for the 12 spots in the CEC. These do not include the positions of WP secretary-general and chairman, both of which were earlier filled by Mr Pritam Singh and Ms Sylvia Lim respectively.

The 23 candidates include the remaining MPs, and a mix of veteran cadres and fresh faces.

There are now two new CEC members. They are:

- Dr John Yam, 56, a long-time party cadre and a member of a rival faction that supported Mr Chen Show Mao's leadership challenge to Mr Low in 2016. He was not in the last CEC elected in 2016, though he was in the CEC before that.

- Mr Terence Tan, 46, a member of the WP slate in Marine Parade GRC that lost in the 2015 General Election to the People's Action Party team.

They replace Mr Kenneth Foo and Mr Tan Kong Soon, both 41.

The person with the third highest vote is Non-Constituency MP Dennis Tan, 47, who received 67 votes, indicating that he is a leader to watch in future.

He beats elected MPs Chen Show Mao and Png Eng Huat, who both received 60 votes.

The other members of the new CEC are: NCMPs Leon Perera and Daniel Goh, as well as Mr Firuz Khan, Ms Lee Li Lian and Mr Gerald Giam.

During a post-election briefing on Sunday, Ms Lim said that it is a "happy state" for the CEC positions to be hotly contested.