How Does Pritam Singh Navigate Politics and the Pain of Being a Red Devil?

Even though its a tough time for Pritam Singh, his loyalty to the Red Devils was actually training for his political career: learning how to stay calm even when the scoreboard isn’t looking great.

On December 4 2025, Singh lost his appeal against a guilty verdict for lying to a parliamentary committee. This cost him a $14,000 fine, which he paid to the court and accepted the verdict “fully and without reservation”, though he is disappointed with their decision. As of 15 January 2026 Prime Minister Lawrence Wong officially removed Singh from his post as Leader of the Opposition (LO) of the Singapore’s Worker’s Party. PM Wong believes that Singh’s criminal conviction proved his leadership is indefensible to serve the island country.

To understand how the Leader of the Opposition reached this point, one has to look back to 2021, where former lawmaker Raeesah Khan admitted to lying to the parliament about police misconduct with a sexual assault victim. Allegedly, Khan was instructed by other parliament members, including Singh to continue with this narrative, even though they knew this claim was false. Khan later was fined $35,000 and resigned from the party and the parliament.

According to the court, Singh’s intentions were “strongly indicative” of not wanting Khan to clarify her lie. While maintaining his innocence throughout the trial, he argued that he was simply giving Khan time to deal with a sensitive issue, the prosecution argued his inaction proved he never intended for her to come clean. In the November appeal hearing, Singh’s lawyers argued that the court had ignored crucial evidence and questioned the credibility of Khan and her aides. However, the judge ruled that the conviction was fully supported by the evidence.

Despite being stripped of his LO privileges, mainly a higher allowance and the right of a first reply during a debate, Singh still remains a seated member of the parliament, and has pledged to continue serving Singapore.

So, one must wonder: is the current state of Manchester United simply a reflection of Singh’s political luck, or did being a Red Devil actually give him the thick skin needed to survive this season? Either way, for Pritam Singh, the “match” for his political future continues.