Seow's new appointment led to a falling-out with Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first Prime Minister, after he became embroiled in the politics surrounding the role of the Law Society. He had envisaged a restoration of the role of the Law Society to comment on legislation that the government churned out without any meaningful parliamentary debate, to which Lee took special exception. As a result, Lee caused special legislation to be passed that deprived the Law Society of any power to comment on legislation unless specifically asked to by the government. Seow stood for the 1988 general election as a member of the opposition Workers' Party team that contested in Eunos Group Representation Constituency against the ruling People's Action Party (PAP). However, his team managed to secure 49.11% of valid votes and lost marginally to the PAP.