1957 Singaporean by-elections

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1957 Singapore by-elections
Flag of Singapore (1952-1959).svg
  1952 29 June 1957 1961  

2 seats to the Legislative Assembly of Singapore
Registered29,563
Turnout12,874 (43.55%) Decrease2.svg 11.16%
 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
  Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore Making a Toast at a State Dinner Held in His Honor, 1975.jpg LSP Logo.svg
Leader Lee Kuan Yew Tan Chye Cheng Lim Yew Hock
Party PAP LSP LF
Leader's seat Tanjong Pagar SMC Did not contestDid not contest
Seats won110
Seat changeSteady2.svgIncrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1
popular vote4,7073,6571,118
Percentage36.99%28.74%8.79%
SwingDecrease2.svg 4.18%Decrease2.svg 7.52%Decrease2.svg 13.78%

 Fourth party
 
Party Malay Union
Seats won0
Seat changeSteady2.svg
popular vote983
Percentage7.73%
SwingIncrease2.svg 7.73%

Assemblymen before election

Elected Assemblymen

A by-election was held on 29 June 1957, with nomination day occurring on 18 May 1957 in Cairnhill and Tanjong Pagar. When talks with the British authorities for self-governance broke down, Chief Minister David Marshall decided to resign from the Labour Front on 7 June 1956. He had also challenged then-opposition leader Lee Kuan Yew from the People's Action Party to resign and recontest his Tanjong Pagar ward as well, which he did.

Contents

The Labour Front's replacement candidate Keng Bang Ee lost the seat to the new Liberal Socialist Party, while Lee retained his seat in Tanjong Pagar.

This election had a voter turnout of merely 43.55%, the lowest of any election in the period between 1948 and 1959. With the introduction of compulsory voting in 1959, this turnout remains the lowest for any election in Singapore's history.

Election Deposit

The election deposit was stated at $500.

Results

Cairnhill

By-election 1957: Cairnhill
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
LSP Soh Ghee Soon2,34240.28N/A
Independent Goh Kong Beng1,28122.03N/A
LF Keng Ban Ee1,11819.23Decrease2.svg 28.35
Malay Union Tengku Muda Muhamed bin Mahmud98316.90N/A
Independent Mirza Abdul Majid911.56N/A
Majority1,06118.25Increase2.svg 7.09
Turnout 5,88939.79Decrease2.svg 12.04
LSP gain from LF Swing N/A

Note 1: As Mirza Abdul Majid had failed to secure 12.5% of the votes, he had his election deposit forfeited.

Note 2: In 1957, Singapore Malay Union (SMU) was expelled by its alliance partners consisted of UMNO and MCA for fielding a candidate in this by-election which was the reason for the elections department of Singapore to view Tengku Muda as another independent candidate.

Tanjong Pagar

By-election 1957: Tanjong Pagar
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
PAP Lee Kuan Yew 4,70768.13Decrease2.svg 10.20
LSP Chong Wei Ling1,31519.03N/A
Independent Koh Choon Hong88712.84N/A
Majority3,39249.10Decrease2.svg 17.43
Turnout 6,98547.32Decrease2.svg 10.29
PAP hold Swing N/A

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