Background of Singapore’s Past Election

GE 1948: The first Legislative Council election was held on 20^th March 1948. It was to  elect 6 members to the Legislative Council. The Singapore Progressive Party (SPP) won 3 seats while the  remaining seats went to Independent candidates.

GE 1951: The second Legislative Council election was held in March. The number of seats increased from 6 to 9. The SPP won 6 seats, Labour Party (SLP) won 2 and the last seat went to an Independent Candidate.

GE 1955: A new Constitution, Rendel Constitution, was introduced. The Legislative Council gave way to Legislative Assembly, and voters would elect 25 out of 32 council members. Held on 02 Apr 1955, this election was best known as “the first lively political contest in Singapore’s history”. David Marshall became the first Chief Minister in Singapore, leading a coalition government comprised of Labour Front, the United Malays National Organisation and the Malayan Chinese Association.

GE 1959: Singapore was granted  self-government. On 30^th May 1959, General Election was  held to elect 51 representatives to the first fully elected Legislative Assembly. PAP won 43 out of 51 seats and Lee Kuan Yew became the first Singapore Prime Minister.

GE 1963:  In 1963, Singapore merged with the Federation of Malaysia, thus marking the end of a period of British rule in Singapore. On 21^st September 1963, an election was held to decide the composition of 51 seats of the Legislative Assembly for the first five years of Independence within Malaysia. PAP won 37 seats out of 51 at the Legislative Assembly General Elections.

GE 1968:  Only seven wards was contested in the General Election held on 13 Apr 1968.  This means that 51 out of 58 wards were uncontested. The two political parties that contested in this election was People’s Action Party and Workers’ Party. A total of 65 candidates contested, and five of them were Independent candidates. The leading party, People’s Action Party, won all 58 seats  in this election, resulting in a single party rule.

GE 1972: There were six political parties contested in the General Election held on 2^nd  September 1972. Sixty-five wards were up for contestation but only 57 seats were contested by 137 candidates. The People’s Action Party (PAP) won all the seats for the second time. PAP won eight seats on Nomination day, and the remaining 57 seats were contested by 7 political parties. PAP sent 57 candidates, while United National Front (UNF) sent 33 candidates. Workers’ Party (WP) sent 27 candidates, Barisan Sosialis had 10 candidates, People’s Front had 7, and PKMS had 2 candidates. There were two Independent candidates.

GE 1976: Sixty-nine wards were up for contestation for the General Election held on 23^rd December 1976. 124 candidates from seven different political parties were  vying for the 53 seats in the Legislative Assembly. For the third time, the People’s Action Party won all the seats.

GE 1980: The General Election was held on 23^rd December 1980. People’s Action Party won all the 75 seats, returning to power once more.  The issues of concern to PAP were continuity and consolidation, whereas the opposition parties were concerned over democracy, or rather, having an opposition in the Parliament, to support rights for minority and care for the poor.

GE 1984: For four consecutive elections, Singapore had a single-party rule. On the General Election held on 22^nd December 1984, PAP lost two seats to the opposition parties, Singapore Democratic Party  and Workers’ Party respectively. This General Election saw 97 candidates from nine parties vying for 49 contested seats.

GE 1988: The concept of Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) was introduced at the election held on 3^rd September 1988. A total of eight parties participated in the General Election, sending a total of 156 candidates including 4 Independent candidates. Chiam See Tong of Singapore Democratic Party won the ward. PAP retained all constituencies except Potong Pasir.

GE 1991: There were 81 seats up for contestation for the General Election held on 31^st August 1991. PAP won 77 seats whereas four seats went to opposition parties. Three seats went to Singapore Democratic Party and one went to Workers’ Party. Ling How Doong (SDP) won a seat in Bukit Gombak, Cheo Chai Chen (SDP) won a seat in Nee Soon Central, Chiam See Tong (SDP) retained his Potong Pasir ward, and Low Thia Khiang (WP) won a seat in Hougang.

GE 1997: The General Election was held on 2^nd January 1997. Forty-seven PAP candidates returned unopposed, whereas 36 candidates vie for the contested seats. PAP won 81 seats but lost two to the Workers’ Party and Singapore People’s Party. Low Thia Kiang (WP) and Chiam See Tong (SPP) managed to retain their wards and PAP was able to reclaim Bukit Gombak and Nee Soon Central wards. SDP was voted out of Parliament. J. B. Jeyaretnam was appointed as Non-Constituency MP (NCMP).

GE 2001: There were 59 candidates vying for 29 seats for the General Election held on 3^rd November 2001. PAP managed to gained all  except two seats to the opposition parties. Chiam See Tong (SDA) and Low Thia Kiang (WP) from the opposition parties retained their seats in Potong Pasir and Hougang respectively. Steve Chia (SDA) was appointed as a NCMP.

GE 2006: A total of 131 candidates from four political parties participated in the General Election held on 6^th May 2006. A total of 84 seats were up for contestation, but 37 seats were walked over, therefore 47 seats were contested. PAP won 82 seats while Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Alliance and Low Thia Kiang from Workers’ Party each retained their respective wards in Potong Pasir and Hougang.