Riding on a wave of dissent against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak - and with support from Dr Mahathir Mohamad-led Bersatu - Pakatan Harapan laid siege on BN's Malay heartland strongholds in the 2018 general election.

With quirks in the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system benefiting them, Harapan made considerable gains against BN, in Johor and Perak particularly, and won Putrajaya.

But support from the rural Malay community was short-lived and had clearly eroded by the time of the Tanjong Piai by-election in 2019...