1972 Singaporean general election

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1972 Singaporean general election
Flag of Singapore.svg
  1968 2 September 1972 1976  

All 65 seats in Parliament
33 seats needed for a majority
Registered812,926
Turnout93.55% (Increase2.svg 1.72pp)
 First party
  Mr. Lee Kuan Yew Mayoral reception 1965 (cropped).jpg
Leader Lee Kuan Yew
Party PAP
Last election86.72%, 58 seats
Seats won65
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 7
Popular vote524,892
Percentage70.43%
SwingDecrease2.svg 16.29pp

Singaporean election 1972 map.png
Results by constituency

Prime Minister before election

Lee Kuan Yew
PAP

Prime Minister after election

Lee Kuan Yew
PAP

General elections were held in Singapore on 2 September 1972. The result was a fourth victory for the People's Action Party, which won all 65 seats, the second of four consecutive elections in which they repeated the feat. Voter turnout was 93.5% in the 57 constituencies (which represented 812,926 voters) that were contested, [1] with PAP candidates elected unopposed in the other eight, which represents 95,456 voters. [2]

Contents

Electoral system

The 65 members of Parliament were elected in 65 single-member constituencies, an increase from 58 in the 1968 elections. Like the previous elections, boundaries and constituencies were carved due to development or population; the newly added constituencies were:

ConstituencyChanges
New Constituencies
Boon Teck
Kim Keat
Kuo Chuan
Carved from Toa Payoh
Bukit Batok Carved from Bukit Panjang, Bukit Timah and Choa Chu Kang
Henderson Carved from Tiong Bahru
Kim Seng Carved from Bukit Ho Swee and Delta
Leng Kee Carved from Bukit Merah

Timeline

DateEvent
16 AugustDissolution of 2nd Parliament
23 AugustNomination Day
2 SeptemberPolling Day
12 OctoberOpening of 3rd Parliament

Campaign

Unlike the previous elections in 1968, which saw the PAP returning to power after nomination day due to low number of contests (seven out of 58 seats), this election saw contests in all but eight seats. Barisan Sosialis renounced its boycott strategy and attempted to make a comeback, while the Workers' Party saw its rejuvenation with the introduction of its new secretary-general, also lawyer and former district judge, J. B. Jeyaretnam (who would later become the inaugural opposition Member of Parliament in 1981); former leader and ex-Chief Minister David Marshall contemplated standing as an independent, but ultimately did not run due to a stingray wound. PAP candidate and architect Ong Teng Cheong, who made his debut in the election, would later serve as a Deputy Prime Minister and also the first-elected (and fifth) President of Singapore.

Describing the alternative opposition parties as having lost their credibility with swerving political manoeuvres, coupled with Singapore's strong economic progress and successful housing development, the PAP declared that Singaporeans no longer saw need for political diversity, claiming that this led to squabbling that would impede its effective governance.

Results

Despite expectations that the PAP would not coast to victory and Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew even anticipating that the PAP winning around 45 seats would be a convincing victory, the PAP still managed to capture every seat in Parliament for the second time.

Singapore Parliament 1971.svg
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
People's Action Party 524,89270.43–16.2965+7
Workers' Party 90,88512.20+8.1800
United National Front55,0017.38New0New
Barisan Sosialis 34,4834.63New0New
People's Front 22,4623.01New0New
Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura 10,0541.35New0New
Independents7,4621.00–8.2700
Total745,239100.0065+7
Valid votes745,23998.00
Invalid/blank votes15,2292.00
Total votes760,468100.00
Registered voters/turnout908,38293.55
Source: Nohlen et al., Singapore Elections [lower-alpha 1]

By constituency

ConstituencyElectoratePartyCandidatesVotes%
Alexandra 24,499 People's Action Party Wong Lin Ken 17,96577.52
Workers' Party Wong Kui Yu3,78216.32
United National FrontS.A. Hamid1,4276.16
Aljunied 19,278 People's Action Party Chin Harn Tong 12,86171.51
Workers' Party Lim Kang Chew4,36024.25
United National FrontAmir Ali bin Mohamed7624.24
Anson 8,171 People's Action Party Perumal Govindaswamy5,02774.34
Workers' Party Tay Kim Oh1,29119.09
United National FrontPaul C. Kunjuraman4446.57
Boon Teck 15,958 People's Action Party Phey Yew Kok 9,94766.75
People's Front Lim Thiam Hock4,95433.25
Bras Basah 8,323 People's Action Party Ho See BengUncontested
Bukit Batok 14,563 People's Action Party Chai Chong Yii 9,76573.78
United National FrontRengaswamy Vetrivelu3,47126.22
Bukit Ho Swee 12,212 People's Action Party Seah Mui Kok7,86268.77
Barisan Sosialis Chin Tian Choo2,20919.32
Workers' Party Wee Kia Eng1,36111.91
Bukit Merah 13,960 People's Action Party Lim Guan Hoo 9,04469.33
Workers' Party Kho Jiak Hiong2,04215.65
Barisan Sosialis Said bin Jali1,95815.02
Bukit Panjang 15,461 People's Action Party Lee Yiok Seng9,52767.65
Workers' Party Tang Song Khiang3,49624.82
United National FrontLeyu Tan Jib1,0607.53
Bukit Timah 15,476 People's Action Party Chor Yeok Eng 9,47566.78
Barisan Sosialis Krishnan K. Nair4,71433.22
Cairnhill 11,952 People's Action Party Lim Kim San 8,45880.92
United National FrontPaul Elisha1,99419.08
Changi 18,297 People's Action Party Sim Boon Woo10,51262.42
Workers' Party Normah binte Yahya4,91729.20
United National FrontOmar bin Ninggal1,4128.38
Chua Chu Kang 15,669 People's Action Party Tang See Chim9,00262.36
Barisan Sosialis Ng Ah Chue5,43437.64
Crawford 9,285 People's Action Party Ang Kok Peng 6,04072.60
Workers' Party Wu Kher1,56518.81
United National FrontN. M. Abdul Wahid7148.59
Delta 13,781 People's Action Party Yeo Choo Kok9,14970.72
Workers' Party Wong Hong Toy2,18616.90
Barisan Sosialis Abdul Rahim bin Abdul Rahman1,60212.38
Farrer Park 12,707 People's Action Party Lee Chiaw Meng 8,52173.82
Workers' Party J. B. Jeyaretnam 2,66823.11
United National FrontS. A. Latiff3543.07
Geylang East 16,580 People's Action Party Ho Cheng Choon9,69264.24
Workers' Party Kum Teng Hock4,95132.81
United National FrontMohamed Elias bin Ibrahim4452.95
Geylang Serai 13,837 People's Action Party Rahmat bin Kenap6,71153.59
Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura Ahmad bin Haji Taff4,97839.75
United National FrontRaja Rom bin Raja Jaafar8336.66
Geylang West 11,653 People's Action Party Yong Nyuk Lin 7,32069.28
Workers' Party Quek Doh Lam3,24630.72
Havelock 10,849 People's Action Party Hon Sui Sen 7,15172.65
Barisan Sosialis Harbans Singh2,69227.35
Henderson 9,431 People's Action Party Lai Tha Chai6,57774.43
People's Front Wong Wen Nan2,26025.57
Hong Lim 7,486 People's Action Party Lee Khoon Choy 4,83573.79
People's Front Wong Kong Hoa1,71726.21
Jalan Besar 10,310 People's Action Party Chan Chee Seng7,79483.86
United National FrontJohnnie Ng Kong Wah1,50016.14
Jalan Kayu 14,982 People's Action Party Hwang Soo Jin 8,28359.42
Workers' Party Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair5,13736.86
United National FrontOng Seng Kok5183.72
Joo Chiat 15,684 People's Action Party Yeoh Ghim Seng 11,66983.49
United National FrontWilliam James Cook2,30716.51
Jurong 15,348 People's Action Party Ho Kah Leong 10,74176.43
United National FrontNg Soon Hee3,31223.57
Kallang 17,232 People's Action Party Abdul Aziz bin Karim12,62679.75
United National FrontSultan Mydin bin Abdul Hamid3,20520.25
Kampong Chai Chee 15,564 People's Action Party Sha'ari bin Tadin7,45852.39
Barisan Sosialis Ng Yang Choo4,18829.42
Workers' Party Hashim bin Yadi2,59018.19
Kampong Glam 7,542 People's Action Party S. Rajaratnam Uncontested
Kampong Kapor 9,361 People's Action Party Yeo Toon Chia 6,13273.15
United National FrontChng Boon Eng2,25126.85
Kampong Kembangan 18,480 People's Action Party Mohamed Ariff bin Suradi9,67157.53
Workers' Party Othman bin Abdullah5,45132.43
United National FrontKamaruddin bin Hassan1,68710.04
Kampong Ubi 15,431 People's Action Party Ya'acob bin Mohamed8,03056.86
Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura Abdul Rahman bin Mohamed Zin5,07635.94
United National FrontDarus bin Shariff1,0177.20
Katong 16,766 People's Action Party Joseph Francis De ConceicaoUncontested
Kim Keat 14,640 People's Action Party Ong Teng Cheong 10,26274.00
Workers' Party Seow Khee Leng3,02221.79
United National FrontWinston J. Paglar5834.21
Kim Seng 12,893 People's Action Party Ong Leong Boon 8,17867.74
Workers' Party Heng Swee Tong3,89532.26
Kreta Ayer 9,627 People's Action Party Goh Keng Swee Uncontested
Kuo Chuan 15,142 People's Action Party Pathmanaban Selvadurai 10,52373.69
Barisan Sosialis P. Manokaran3,75726.31
Leng Kee 17,158 People's Action Party Ahmad Mattar 10,92968.28
Workers' Party Ng Ho4,03625.21
United National FrontN. Loganathan1,0426.51
MacPherson 15,637 People's Action Party Chua Sian Chin 10,11768.76
Workers' Party Lee Tow Kiat4,59731.24
Moulmein 11,144 People's Action Party Sia Khoon Seong7,41272.43
Workers' Party Cheng Poh Yew2,82227.57
Mountbatten 14,396 People's Action Party Ng Yeow ChongUncontested
Nee Soon 17,061 People's Action Party Ong Soo Chuan11,63673.29
United National FrontYap Fatt Shing4,24026.71
Pasir Panjang 13,964 People's Action Party Othman Wok 9,20971.77
United National FrontSyed Ahmad bin Syed Husain3,62328.23
Paya Lebar 19,102 People's Action Party Tay Boon Too11,07361.59
Workers' Party Tan Poh Seng5,36129.82
IndependentKow Kee Seng1,5458.59
Potong Pasir 13,103 People's Action Party Ivan Cuthbert Baptist7,77266.22
Workers' Party Rajaratnam Murugason3,39128.89
United National FrontHarnek Singh5734.89
Punggol 15,303 People's Action Party Ng Kah Ting 8,21558.13
IndependentNg Teng Kian5,91741.87
Queenstown 18,458 People's Action Party Jek Yeun Thong 14,20081.24
Workers' Party Chua Eng Huat2,50428.89
United National FrontLew Ban Huat7754.43
River Valley 12,189 People's Action Party Tan Eng LiangUncontested
Rochore 11,589 People's Action Party Toh Chin Chye 6,21860.40
Barisan Sosialis Lee Siew Choh 4,07639.60
Sembawang 12,217 People's Action Party Teong Eng Siong8,46677.36
United National FrontMohd Arif bin Sahul Hameed2,47822.64
Sepoy Lines 12,308 People's Action Party Wee Toon Boon9,16081.30
United National FrontHo Soo Hock2,10718.70
Serangoon Gardens 13,836 People's Action Party Leonard Peter RodrigoUncontested
Siglap 16,091 People's Action Party Abdul Rahim Ishak 11,45678.63
Workers' Party Ariffin bin Noordin2,52917.36
United National FrontYahiya bin Haji Mohamed Ghouse5844.01
Stamford 8,212 People's Action Party Andrew Fong Sip Chee 5,08371.77
Workers' Party Chiang Seok Keong1,99928.23
Tampines 15,302 People's Action Party Phua Bah Lee 9,04964.30
People's Front Tan Sim Hock5,02535.70
Tanglin 12,777 People's Action Party Edmund W. Barker Uncontested
Tanjong Pagar 9,946 People's Action Party Lee Kuan Yew 7,54284.08
People's Front Leong Mun Kwai1,42815.92
Telok Ayer 10,547 People's Action Party Ong Pang Boon 7,61283.98
United National FrontNg Oh Chew1,45216.02
Telok Blangah 14,624 People's Action Party N. Naidu Govindasamy7,66957.92
Workers' Party Zainul Abiddin bin Mohd Shah4,71435.60
United National FrontMuthusamy Ramasamy8586.48
Thomson 18,702 People's Action Party Ang Nam Piau12,37872.55
People's Front Wong Chung Kit4,68327.45
Tiong Bahru 17,394 People's Action Party Ch'ng Jit Koon 11,99175.62
Workers' Party Seow Yong Chew2,97218.74
United National FrontLee Kah Chit8945.64
Toa Payoh 15,742 People's Action Party Eric Cheong Yuen Chee10,88473.85
Barisan Sosialis Tay Cheng Kang3,85326.15
Ulu Pandan 14,485 People's Action Party Chiang Hai Ding9,37871.83
United National FrontAng Kheng Kwan3,67828.17
Upper Serangoon 16,621 People's Action Party Sia Kah Hui11,86277.72
United National FrontLim Kia Joo3,40122.28
Whampoa 12,044 People's Action Party Augustine Tan Hui Heng8,77378.55
People's Front Phang Juet Haw2,39521.45
Source: ELD Singapore Elections

Notes

  1. 95,456 of the 908,382 voters were registered in uncontested constituencies

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References

  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p254 ISBN   0-19-924959-8
  2. Parliamentary general election 1972 Singapore Elections