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Historically, women's involvement in Singapore's political landscape was limited. However, since 1984, there has been a steady rise in female participation, with more women contesting elections across both ruling and opposition parties, as well as taking on key political roles.
Singapore has practised universal suffrage from the outset of its democratic elections, unlike countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States. Early women representatives in the Legislative Council were mostly English-educated and middle-class. As women voters increased from 8 percent to 50 percent in 1955, Chinese-educated women leaders gained prominence. Some, including Linda Chen Mock Hock, were linked to communism and were later suppressed under Lim Yew Hock's anti-communist administration.
In 1959, four female People's Action Party (PAP) candidates, including Chan Choy Siong and Ho Puay Choo, entered the Assembly. [1] Two women later defected to Barisan Sosialis. After Chan's retirement in 1970, there was a 14-year absence of women in parliament. [2] Female representation returned in 1984 with Dixie Tan, Aline Wong, and Yu-Foo Yee Shoon of the PAP. By 1988, four women were in parliament, but numbers dropped after 1991. From 2011, the number of women candidates and MPs steadily grew. [3] The PAP Women's Wing was formed in 1989. In 1992, Kanwaljit Soin became the first female Nominated Member of Parliament, followed by others like Eunice Olsen, Claire Chiang, Braema Mathiaparanam and Yip Pin Xiu. [4]
Female politicians have since held higher office. Grace Fu became the first female Leader of the House in 2015, while Lim Hwee Hua was Singapore’s first female Cabinet minister in 2009, though she lost her seat to the Workers' Party (WP) in 2011. That same election saw the entry of WP's Sylvia Lim as the first elected female opposition MP, and Lina Loh as an NCMP. In 2013, Halimah Yacob became the first female Speaker and later, in 2017, the first female President. [5] In 2020, Josephine Teo led a PAP team as anchor minister, [6] while WP gained ground with He Ting Ru and Raeesah Khan, the latter being the youngest and first minority opposition MP. [7] Hazel Poa of the Progress Singapore Party became the third female NCMP, [8] though she later lost her seat. [9] In 2025, WP retained its female MPs He and Lim, and added Eileen Chong as the fourth female NCMP. [10]
The table below shows the comparison and number of female candidates who contested over the years since the first post-independence election in 1968, and eventually elected in office: [11]
| Year | Number of female candidates | Representation | Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Opposition | Total | Seats | Percentage | ||
| 2025 | 29/32 | 2/21 | 31/53 | 31/97 | 31.96% | Excluding one NCMP. |
| 2020 | 24/25 | 3/15 | 27/40 | 27/93 | 29.03% | Excluding one NCMP. |
| 2015 | 20/20 | 1/15 | 21/35 | 21/89 | 23.59% | |
| 2011 | 18/20 | 1/15 | 19/35 | 19/87 | 21.84% | Excluding one NCMP, and one MP-elect in a by-election. |
| 2006 | 18/18 | 0/4 | 18/22 | 18/84 | 21.42% | Excluding one NCMP. |
| 2001 | 10/10 | 0/1 | 10/11 | 10/84 | 11.90% | |
| 1997 | 4/4 | 0/0 | 4/4 | 4/83 | 4.82% | |
| 1991 | 2/3 | 0/2 | 2/5 | 2/81 | 2.47% | |
| 1988 | 4/4 | 0/5 | 4/9 | 4/81 | 4.94% | |
| 1984 | 3/3 | 0/3 | 3/6 | 3/79 | 3.80% | |
| 1980 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 0/2 | 0/75 | 0.00% | |
| 1976 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/69 | 0.00% | Amnah binte Kuong Hussein of the Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS) contested in the Geylang Serai Constituency. |
| 1972 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/65 | 0.00% | Normah binte Yahya of the WP contested in the Changi Constituency. |
| 1968 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/58 | 0.00% | |
Since the 1990s, the number of women participating in politics has progressively increased, and it hit double digits towards the 3rd millennium and the representation for female MPs increase per every election. There are currently 31 elected women parliamentarians out of a total of 97 elected members. The list of women parliamentarians are listed in alphabetical order by surnames.
| Level | Number | Names |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet Ministers (including second ministers and Minister-in-charge) | 3 | Grace Fu, Indranee Rajah, Josephine Teo |
| Senior Ministers of State | 3 | Low Yen Ling, Sim Ann, Sun Xueling |
| Ministers of State | 3 | Gan Siow Huang, Jasmin Lau, Rahayu Mahzam |
| Senior Parliamentary Secretaries | 1 | Goh Hanyan |
| District mayors | 2 | Low Yen Ling, Denise Phua |
| Deputy speakers | 1 | Jessica Tan |
| Opposition parties (excluding Non-constituency MPs) | 2 | He Ting Ru, Sylvia Lim |
| Government backbenchers | 17 | |
| Name | Party | Constituency | Terms | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elysa Chen | PAP | Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC | 1 | |
| Charlene Chen | PAP | Tampines GRC | 1 | |
| Choo Pei Ling | PAP | Chua Chu Kang GRC | 1 | |
| Grace Fu | PAP | Jurong East–Bukit Batok GRC | 5 | Cabinet Minister (Sustainability and the Environment) Minister-in-charge (Trade Relations) |
| Gan Siow Huang | PAP | Marymount SMC | 2 | Minister of State (Foreign Affairs & Trade and Industry) |
| Gho Sze Kee | PAP | Mountbatten SMC | 1 | |
| Goh Hanyan | PAP | Nee Soon GRC | 1 | Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Culture, Community and Youth & Sustainability and the Environment) |
| Hazlina Abdul Halim | PAP | East Coast GRC | 1 | |
| He Ting Ru | WP | Sengkang GRC | 2 | |
| Indranee Rajah | PAP | Pasir Ris–Changi GRC | 6 | Cabinet Minister (Prime Minister's Office) Second Minister (National Development & Finance) Assistant Minister-in-charge (National Population and Talent Division) |
| Jasmin Lau | PAP | Ang Mo Kio GRC | 1 | Minister of State (Digital Development and Information & Education) |
| Lee Hui Ying | PAP | Nee Soon GRC | 1 | |
| Valerie Lee | PAP | Pasir Ris–Changi GRC | 1 | |
| Cassandra Lee | PAP | West Coast–Jurong West GRC | 1 | |
| Sylvia Lim | WP | Aljunied GRC | 4 [a] | |
| Low Yen Ling | PAP | Bukit Gombak SMC | 4 | Senior Minister of State (Culture, Community and Youth & Trade and Industry) Mayor (South West CDC) |
| Mariam Jaafar | PAP | Sembawang GRC | 2 | |
| Nadia Ahmad Samdin | PAP | Ang Mo Kio GRC | 2 | |
| Rachel Ong | PAP | Tanjong Pagar GRC | 2 | |
| Diana Pang | PAP | Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC | 1 | |
| Joan Pereira | PAP | Tanjong Pagar GRC | 3 | |
| Denise Phua | PAP | Jalan Besar GRC | 5 | Mayor (Central CDC) |
| Poh Li San | PAP | Sembawang West SMC | 2 | |
| Rahayu Mahzam | PAP | Jurong East–Bukit Batok GRC | 3 | Minister of State (Digital Development and Information & Health) |
| Sim Ann | PAP | Holland–Bukit Timah GRC | 4 | Senior Minister of State (Foreign Affairs & Home Affairs) |
| Hany Soh | PAP | Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC | 2 | |
| Sun Xueling | PAP | Punggol GRC | 3 | Senior Minister of State (National Development & Trade and Industry) |
| Jessica Tan | PAP | East Coast GRC | 5 | Deputy Speaker of Parliament |
| Josephine Teo | PAP | Jalan Besar GRC | 5 | Cabinet Minister (Digital Development and Information) Minister-in-charge (Cybersecurity and Smart Nation Group) |
| Tin Pei Ling | PAP | Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC | 4 | |
| Yeo Wan Ling | PAP | Punggol GRC | 2 | |
| Name | Party | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Eileen Chong | WP | 1 |
