National Solidarity Party (Singapore)
Template:Short description Template:Use Singapore English Template:Use dmy dates Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox political party The National Solidarity Party (abbreviation: NSP) is a political party in Singapore. It has participated in all parliamentary elections since the 1988 general election.
History
Beginnings
The NSP was founded by a group of middle-class businesspeople on 6 March 1987. The founding president and secretary-general of the party were Kum Teng Hock and Soon Kia Seng respectively. Kum was a former member of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) while Soon was the ex-chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
According to its 1995 manifesto, the main political objective of the NSP was to organise and maintain a democratic movement that would ensure the solidarity and establishment of a just political system and standard of living. The party believed in a multi-party political system so that the rights and interests of the people could be proportionately represented. The NSP also aimed to establish an open and freely competitive economic environment that would provide sufficient opportunities for local enterprises. Today, the NSP continues to strive for these values. It continues to promote the establishment of a multi-party political system as well as a pro-business economic environment.
NSP made their political debut in the 1988 general election, and has contested in every election since. NSP also had contested in the 1992 by-election for the constituency of Marine Parade GRC, which was led by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
As member of Singapore Democratic Alliance
Ahead of the 2001 general election, the NSP became a founding member of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), along with the Singapore Justice Party (SJP), the Singapore People's Party (SPP) and the Singapore Malay National Organization (PKMS). The Chairman of the alliance was the SPP leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Potong Pasir, Chiam See Tong (who was the SDA's only candidate-elect until 2011).
On the polling day, the party's secretary General Steve Chia, who contested the Chua Chu Kang Single Member Constituency but defeated with a vote share of 34.6%, was the highest percentage secured by a losing opposition candidate at the election, and Chia assumed his Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) post, becoming the first non Workers' Party (WP) NCMP to do so.
In the 2006 general election, Chia lost his election but increased his margin to 39.63%. Despite this, he lost his position as a NCMP and did not return to Parliament (the highest percentage among losing candidates was for the WP team of Aljunied GRC at 43.9%; party's chairman Sylvia Lim succeeded Chia for the NCMP role).
Party rebuild and the 2011 general election
In 2007, the NSP decided to withdraw from the SDA with a view to "explore new possibilities through wider latitude to manoeuvre, re-engineer, and rebuild the NSP".<ref>http://www.nsp.sg/nspnews/NSP_News_7/Press%20Release%20-%20Re-positioning%20of%20the%20NSP.pdfTemplate:Dead link</ref> Sebastian Teo also took over the leadership of the party from Chia. The party acquired a new collective colour of orange for their activity jersey as a sign of vitality, rebirth and unity, and the newsletter underwent a transformation and adopted the new name North Star.
In the 2011 election, the party fielded the most candidates of all Opposition parties for the election, with 24 candidates contesting in four Group Representation Constituencies (Chua Chu Kang GRC, Jurong GRC, Marine Parade GRC and Tampines GRC), and four Single Member Constituencies (Mountbatten SMC, Pioneer SMC, Radin Mas SMC and Whampoa SMC). This election saw a boost in electoral support for the NSP, notably receiving endorsement from the newly formed Reform Party along their supporters. The party was led by Secretary-General Goh Meng Seng (a former WP candidate), and saw introductions to prominent candidates, which include Nicole Seah, Hazel Poa, Tony Tan Lay Thiam and Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss.
However, despite fielding notable candidates such as former MP Cheo Chai Chen and entrepreneur Poa, the party was defeated in all the contested constituencies; Goh resigned from his post shortly after the election.
General Election 2015
The party expressed intention to contest five constituencies (MacPherson, Marine Parade, Pioneer, Sembawang and Tampines), but the party shortly dropped out on MacPherson and Marine Parade, citing the possibility of multi-cornered contests that were likely to dilute the votes from the incumbent opposition WP and reducing the chance for a more diverse Parliament.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The party later changed their mind a few days later, and announced their intention to contest MacPherson SMC citing closeness with the constituency as they had contested there in the prior election. In a response, a few party members, such as acting secretary-general Poa<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a CEC member Fazli Talip,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> resigned from NSP, citing that they were strongly opposed to the controversial decision to contest MacPherson. The party initially fielded Chia as the candidate, but he later withdrew on 23 August due to the online abuse that received from him,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the party eventually chose Cheo as a candidate. Lim Tean was appointed as acting-secretary general following Poa's resignation.<ref name=":1" />
Prior to the election, a few prominent members, such as Seah and Chong-Aruldoss, left the party. Seah and Chong-Aruldoss later joined WP and SPP, respectively. During the campaigning period, Cheo drew public outcry on an interview citing MacPherson's incumbent Tin Pei Ling's status as a new mother was "her weakness" and saying that she might spend more time focusing on her child than on her constituents, and later claimed it as a joke.<ref>Tin Pei Ling’s new status as a mum is a weakness: Cheo Template:Webarchive. Channel NewsAsia, 4 September 2015.</ref> On 8 September, Tampines GRC candidate Choong Hon Heng's rally on booing PAP had gone viral.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The party failed to win any of the constituencies, and Cheo had his S$14,500 electoral deposit forfeited as a consequence of garnering less than 12.5% of the valid votes cast for MacPherson (215 or 0.82%).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Lim resigned from his post and left NSP in May 2017,<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and formed his new party, Peoples Voice, in October 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
General Election 2020
The party fielded a total of 10 candidates and contested Sembawang and Tampines in the 2020 elections. The party also expressed interest in contesting MacPherson and Pioneer, but both withdrew and respectively backed the People's Power Party<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Progress Singapore Party.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ahead of elections, Chia resigned from NSP and joined the Singapore People's Party and became the new secretary-general a year later.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On polling day on 10 July, the party failed to win any GRCs, but improved their vote share for each GRC.
The Coalition
In October 2023, NSP joined Singapore United Party, Red Dot United and former SDA partner SPP to form a political alliance, The Coalition.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The alliance was not officially registered, but partners were to contest the next election under their own party tickets while collaborating their efforts to avoid 3-cornered contests among Coalition partners.
General Election 2025
GE2025 Outcomes
| Constituency | Candidates | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage | Number | ||
| Sembawang GRC (lost $67,500 deposit) | Spencer Ng | 2.32% | 2,878 |
| Raiyian Chia | |||
| Lee Wei | |||
| Verina Ong | |||
| Yadzeth Haris | |||
| Tampines GRC (lost $67,500 deposit) | Reno Fong | 0.18% | 249 |
| Ridzwan Mohammad | |||
| Zee Phay | |||
| Thamilselvam Karuppaya | |||
| Yeo Ren-Yuan | |||
Pre-Election
In the 2025 election, the party contested in both Sembawang and Tampines GRCs. Both of these were multi-cornered fights, with a three-cornered fight against the SDP and incumbent PAP in Sembawang GRC, and a four-cornered fight against the PAP, WP and PPP in Tampines GRC.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The NSP had also declined to contest in Sembawang West SMC and Tampines-Changkat SMC, instead choosing to yield to the SDP and WP respectively.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Election results
Ultimately, the NSP won neither of the constituencies and suffered its heaviest defeats since the party's inception, as both its teams lost their $67,500 deposits. The NSP's Tampines GRC team also garnered Singapore's lowest-ever vote share in any election since independence, securing just 0.18% of the votes, or 249 votes. Their Sembawang team did not fare much better, securing just 2.32%, or 2,878 votes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Following the party's dismal performance in GE2025, NSP Secretary-General Spencer Ng declared that the NSP was "not going to abide by … gentlemen's rules anymore", and decried the idea of "opposition unity" as a mere "illusion."<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This was presumably a reference to how the NSP had earlier yielded to the SDP and WP in two SMCs.<ref name=":2" /> Moreover, according to Ng, the results also showed that Singaporean voters had rejected more "centralised and moderate" parties such as the NSP in favour of other more "radical" opposition parties.<ref name=":3" />
Political positions
NSP has described itself as a centrist party that believes in "fair competition, low unemployment and wealth redistribution."<ref>https://www.facebook.com/nspsg/</ref> For the 2025 general election, NSP published their manifesto titled "Your Future, Our Priority".<ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Economic policy
NSP is opposed to trickle-down economics, instead proposing a minimum wage and green transition fund.<ref name=":4" />
Government transparency
In its 2025 manifesto, NSP stated that they would hold institutions accountable and conduct independent reviews of government policies. The party also opposes top-down governance and commits to be Singapore’s independent conscience in Parliament.<ref name=":4" />
Youth
NSP supports mandatory youth representation in national advisory councils, and proposes for the formation of a platform named Youth Assembly SG. In this proposed platform, young Singaporeans can table and vote on policy ideas with a parliamentary response.<ref name=":4" />
Leadership
The NSP is led by the president while the secretary-general is the second-in-command.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
List of secretaries-general
| No | Name | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soon Kia Seng | 1987 |
| 2 | Ken Sunn | 1988 |
| 3 | Rasiah Thiagarajah | 1988–1989 |
| 4 | Ken Sunn | 1989–1993 |
| 5 | Yip Yew Weng | 1993–2001 |
| 6 | Steve Chia | 2001–2005 |
| 7 | Law Sin Ling | 2006–2008 |
| 8 | Ken Sunn | 2008–2009 |
| 9 | Goh Meng Seng | 2010–2011 |
| 10 | Hazel Poa | 2011–2013 |
| 11 | Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss | 2013–2015 |
| 12 | Tan Lam Siong | 2015 |
| 13 | Hazel Poa | 2015 |
| 14 | Lim Tean | 2015–2017 |
| 15 | Spencer Ng | 2017–present |
19th Central Executive Council
| Title | Name |
|---|---|
| President | Reno Fong |
| Vice-President | Ridzuan Mohamed |
| Secretary-General | Spencer Ng |
| Assistant Secretary-General | Eugene Yeo |
| Treasurer | Raymond Chua |
| Assistant Treasurer | Ivan Yeo |
| Organising Secretary | Sean M. |
| Member | Sebastian Teo |
| Member | Yip Yew Weng |
| Member | Ong Hock Siong |
| Member | Yadzeth Haris |
Electoral performance
Parliament
Due to a merger with the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) in the 2001 and 2006 elections, collective figures represent the SDA total inclusive of the NSP, while figures in parenthesis/brackets refer to the NSP only.
Seats contested
Constituencies won are in bold
By-election
| Election | Leader | Constituency contested |
Votes | % | Seats | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contested | Total | +/– | |||||||
| Won | Lost | ||||||||
| 1992 | Ken Sunn | Marine Parade GRC | 950 | 1.4% | 0 | 4 | Template:Composition bar | Template:Steady | Template:No2 |