1957 Singaporean by-elections

A by-election was held on 29 June 1957, with nomination day occurring on 18 May 1957 in the Cairnhill, and Tanjong Pagar constituency. 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. Marshall had also challenged opposition leader Lee Kuan Yew from the People's Action Party to resign and recontest his Tanjong Pagar constituency as well, which he did.

1957 Singaporean by-elections

← 1952 29 June 1957 1961 →

2 seats to the Legislative Assembly of Singapore
Registered29,563
Turnout12,874 (43.55%) Decrease 11.16%
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Lee Kuan Yew Tan Chye Cheng Lim Yew Hock
Party PAP LSP LF
Seats won 1 1 0
Seat change Steady Increase 1 Decrease 1
popular vote 4,707 3,657 1,118
Percentage 36.99% 28.74% 8.79%
Swing Decrease 4.18% Decrease 7.52% Decrease 13.78%

  Fourth party
 
Party Malay Union
Seats won 0
Seat change Steady
popular vote 983
Percentage 7.73%
Swing Increase 7.73%

Assemblymen before election

Elected Assemblymen

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.

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

Election Deposit

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The election deposit was stated at $500.

Results

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Cairnhill

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By-election 1957: Cairnhill
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
LSP Soh Ghee Soon 2,342 40.28 N/A
Independent Goh Kong Beng 1,281 22.03 N/A
LF Keng Ban Ee 1,118 19.23   28.35
Malay Union Tengku Muda Muhamed bin Mahmud 983 16.90 N/A
Independent Mirza Abdul Majid 91 1.56 N/A
Majority 1,061 18.25   7.09
Turnout 5,889 39.79   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

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By-election 1957: Tanjong Pagar
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
PAP Lee Kuan Yew 4,707 68.13   10.20
LSP Chong Wei Ling 1,315 19.03 N/A
Independent Koh Choon Hong 887 12.84 N/A
Majority 3,392 49.10   17.43
Turnout 6,985 47.32   10.29
PAP hold Swing N/A

References

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