History
The constituency's most famous MP is Mr Chiam See Tong, who currently leads the Singapore People's Party. Back when he was with the Singapore Democratic Party, he defeated the People's Action Party's candidate, Mah Bow Tan (who would later become a Cabinet Minister and MP for Tampines GRC) in the 1984 general election, as well as other candidates such as Sitoh Yih Pin and Andy Gan Lai Chiang.
Between 2001 and 2011, this seat was one of only two opposition seats in the Parliament of Singapore (the other being Hougang SMC, held by the Workers' Party's Low Thia Khiang). Since Chiam entered Parliament in 1984, this made him the longest-serving opposition MP in Singapore's history as of 2011.
The seat used to be a hotly contested seat in the general elections. In the 2001 general election, Chiam won the seat by 751 votes to Sitoh, clinching 52.4% of the votes. Chiam subsequently improved his winning margin to 55.8% in the 2006 general election.
In 2011, Chiam, as well as Low, experimented with leading a team to contest a nearby GRC (in Chiam's case, the Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC). Unlike Low and his party (who won both the GRC they contested as well as his original seat), Chiam and his party were defeated by the PAP in both constituencies. Not only were Chiam and his team defeated in Bishan–Toa Payoh, they also lost Potong Pasir to the PAP's Sitoh, who defeated Chiam's successor (and wife), Lina Loh Woon Lee on a marginal percentage of 0.72%. After that election, Mrs Lina Chiam became a Non-constituency MP (NCMP), having been the best performing loser at the polls.
In 2015, Sitoh retained his seat, this time with 66.41% of the votes, again defeating Mrs Lina Chiam. With Chiam illegible for a seat as an NCMP since she was not one of the best performing losers at that year's polls, this concluded a 31-year long streak of the Chiam family's presence in Parliament.
Following the release of the EBRC report for the 2020 General Election, Blocks 210 to 224 of Lorong 8 Toa Payoh were consolidated into the 4-member Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC while this constituency in return, took the Joo Seng and Woodleigh neighbourhoods from the neighbouring Marine Parade GRC's Geylang Serai ward, to allow further development.
In 2025, Potong Pasir may be giving away the Tannery portion and Wan Tho Avenue to Jalan Besar GRC.
This SMC was another opposition stronghold area of Singapore People's Party, Singapore Democratic Party and Singapore Democratic Alliance, Chiam See Tong but the People's Action Party managed to reclaim back the SMC in 2011. Potong Pasir SMC and Jalan Besar GRC are under the same Town Council, Jalan Besar Town Council.
People's Action Party Sitoh Yih Pin defeated Singapore People's Party Jose Raymond with a vote count of 60.67% vs 39.33%, winning a third term as the incumbent MP for Potong Pasir.
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