1970 Singaporean by-elections

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1970 Singaporean by-elections
Flag of Singapore.svg
  1967 18 April 1970 1977  

5 seats to the Parliament of Singapore
Registered25,310
Turnout21,550 (85.14%)
 Majority partyMinority party
  Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore Making a Toast at a State Dinner Held in His Honor, 1975.jpg
Leader Lee Kuan Yew
  • Chng Boon Eng
  • Vetrivelu Rengaswamy
Party PAP UNF
Seats won50
Seat changeSteady2.svgSteady2.svg
Popular vote14,5456,255
Percentage69.93%30.07%

MPs before election
  • Chan Choy Siong
  • Lim Soo Peng
  • Lim Cheng Lock
  • Lee Teck Lim
  • Buang bin Omar Jumid

PAP

Elected MPs
  • Yeo Choo Kok
  • Hon Sui Sen
  • Yeo Toon Chia
  • Chiang Hai Ding
  • Augustine Tan Hui Heng

PAP

The by-elections were held in April, for five seats in the Parliament of Singapore, after the resignation of Members of Parliament of the People's Action Party (PAP). The PAP won all five seats; with three of them in an uncontested walkover.

Contents

Background

At the time of the 1968 general election, mass resignations by the members of Barisan Sosialis in the parliament, who opted to protest and "struggle for democracy" on the streets, had effectively removed all opposition from the parliament. In 1970, however, it was five members from the governing People's Action Party who were invited to resign and give way to new blood as a part of renewing PAP's ranks.

The resulting vacancies were in the constituencies of Delta, Havelock, Kampong Kapor, Ulu Pandan and Whampoa. By-elections were arranged, with nomination day set as 8 April 1970 and polling day as 18 April 1970.

Similar to 1968 general election, no opposition parties stood except a newly formed United National Front formed from remnants of the defunct Singapore Alliance. This party stood candidates in two seats out of the five, namely Kampong Kapor and Ulu Pandan. Once again the PAP won the other three by walkovers.

Election deposit

The election deposit was set at $500. Similar to previous elections, the election deposit would be forfeited if the particular candidate had failed to secure at least 12.5% or one-eighth of the votes.

Results

By-election 1970: Delta
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
PAP Yeo Choo Kok Walkover
Majority
Turnout 19,031
PAP hold Swing N/A
By-election 1970: Havelock
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
PAP Hon Sui Sen Walkover
Majority
Turnout 11,498
PAP hold Swing N/A
By-election 1970: Kampong Kapor
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
PAP Yeo Toon Chia5,52762.4N/A
United National Front (Singapore)Chng Boon Eng3,33037.6N/A
Majority2,19724.8N/A
Turnout 9,19583.7N/A
PAP hold Swing N/A
By-election 1970: Ulu Pandan
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
PAP Chiang Hai Ding9,01875.5N/A
United National Front (Singapore)Vetrivelu Rengaswamy2,92524.5N/A
Majority6,09351.0N/A
Turnout 12,35586.3N/A
PAP hold Swing N/A
By-election 1970: Whampoa
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
PAP Augustine Tan Hui Heng Walkover
Majority
Turnout 13,286
PAP hold Swing N/A

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