1979 Singaporean by-elections

1979 Singaporean by-elections

←  1977 10 February 1979 1981  →
7 seats to the Parliament of Singapore
Registered	80,075
Turnout	74,887 (93.52%) 1.39%
First party Second party   Leader Lee Kuan Yew J. B. Jeyaretnam Party PAP WP Seats won 7 0 Seat change Popular vote 53,222 8,036 Percentage 72.69% 10.98% Swing 1.37% 5.59%
MP before election Perumal Govindaswamy Yong Nyuk Lin Ng Yeow Chong Ong Soo Chuan Ivan Baptist Teong Eng Siong Shaik Ahmad bin Abdul Haleem PAP Elected MP Devan Nair Teh Cheang Wan Eugene Yap Koh Lip Lin Howe Yoon Chong Tony Tan Rohan bin Kamis PAP

By-elections were held in Singapore on 10 February 1979 for seven constituencies, with nominations being accepted on 31 January. With 80,075 registered voters, the 1979 by-elections remain the largest by-election by combined electorate to have ever taken place in post-independence Singapore.

All candidates for the governing People's Action Party (PAP) won their respective by-elections.

Background

Continuing the trend of the PAP's renewal just as they did in the 1970 by-elections, six seats, including Communications minister Yong Nyuk Lin, were vacated on 12 January to make room for six new MPs. A seventh seat in Anson was earlier vacated a year prior following the death of Perumal Govindaswamy. As such, the seven seats at stake are widely regarded as the biggest-ever by-election in Singapore's history, and it had the most seats changed since the Barisan Sosialis' mass exodus in the inaugural Parliament back in 1966.

The United People's Front criticized Barisan Sosialis for abstaining the by-elections citing an uphill contest against opposition stalwarts, notably independent Chiam See Tong, who contested in his eventual safe seat of Potong Pasir for the first time in his career (he contested Cairnhill on his debut in 1976). In the end, only Geylang West (which one United Front (now Democratic Progressive Party) candidate was later disqualified) and Nee Soon were uncontested. As of 2025, this by-election was the most recent by-election in Singapore with walkovers.

The by-election saw the return of Devan Nair into Singapore politics since 1963, as well as future minister Tony Tan; both of these candidates would go on to become Presidents of Singapore.

Results

Anson Constituency ^{[1] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Devan Nair	8,127	86.21	N/A
	UF	Johnny Wee Lai Seng	1,300	13.79	N/A
Majority			6,827	72.	N/A
Total valid votes			9,427	97.25	N/A
Rejected ballots			267	2.75	N/A
Turnout			9,694	86.22	N/A
Registered electors			11,243		11.85
	PAP hold

By-election 1979: Geylang West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Teh Cheang Wan	Walkover
Majority
Turnout			20,874
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

By-election 1979: Mountbatten

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Eugene Yap Giau Cheng	10,528	79.9	+14.0
	UF	Seow Khee Leng	2,642	20.1	−14.0
Majority			7,886	59.8	+28
Turnout			13,536	94.9	−0.4
	PAP hold		Swing	+14.0

By-election 1979: Nee Soon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Koh Lip Lin	Walkover
Majority
Turnout			15,932
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

By-election 1979: Potong Pasir

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Howe Yoon Chong	9,056	66.8	−8.0
	Independent	Chiam See Tong	4,491	33.2	+33.2
Majority			4,565	33.6	−16
Turnout			13,854	94.2	+0.6
	PAP hold		Swing	-8.0

By-election 1979: Sembawang

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Tony Tan Keng Yam	12,824	78.4	−5.2
	United People's Front	Harbans Singh	3,528	21.6	+5.2
Majority			9,296	56.8	−10.4
Turnout			16,714	94.6	−0.2
	PAP hold		Swing	-5.2

By-election 1979: Telok Blangah

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Rohan bin Kamis	12,687	61.2	N/A
	WP	Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam	8,036	38.8	N/A
Majority			4,651	22.4	N/A
Turnout			21,089	95.0	N/A
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

References

1. "ELD | 1979 Parliamentary By-election Results". Elections Department Singapore . Retrieved 2025-07-17.
2. "Singapore Parliamentary By-Elections 1979 > Anson". sg-elections.com. Retrieved 2025-07-17.

• Background of 1979 By election ^{[ usurped ]}
• Results of 1979 By election