He served as State Chairman of DAP of Malacca for the first term from December 2015 to his resignation in November 2021 following a huge defeat of DAP in the 2021 Malacca state election and the second term from January 2023 to his resignation again in June 2024.
[2] Tey was fielded by the party to spearhead the DAP younger faces in the subsequent 2021 Malacca state election as the PH candidate replacing the incumbent Wong Fort Pin who was however dropped to contest Bemban seat which was considered a more risky election for DAP and Tey.
[3][4][5] In 2018, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had rebuked Tey, the DAP Malacca chief and Wong, the Deputy Speaker of Malacca State Legislative Assembly and assemblyman of Bemban then on their acceptance of the Malacca state "Datukship" in their first year as MLA which had breached the party's long-standing principal agreed upon since the mid-1990s on DAP elected representatives not to receive honours awards during their active political service period.
[6][7] Lim called for those involved to apologise which Wong had obliged and even offered to return the award[8] but Tey did not and remained adamant.
[9][10][11] Tey opined the party should have inform the King, state rulers or governors for such principal policy.