1980 Singaporean general election

1980 Singaporean general election

← 1976 23 December 1980 1984 →
All 75 seats to the Parliament of Singapore 38 seats were needed for a majority
Registered	685,141
Turnout	654,295 (95.50%) 0.42pp
First party   Leader Lee Kuan Yew Party PAP Leader's seat Tanjong Pagar SMC Last election 74.1%, 69 seats Seats before 69 Seats won 75 Seat change 6 Popular vote 494,268 Percentage 77.66% Swing 7.23pp
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Lee Kuan Yew PAP Prime Minister after election Lee Kuan Yew PAP

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General elections were held in Singapore on 23 December 1980. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won all 75 seats, the last of four consecutive elections in which they repeated the feat. Voter turnout was 95.5%, although this figure represents the turnout in the 38 constituencies to be contested,^[1] with PAP candidates earning walkovers in the other 37. 685,141 voters out of the total electorate of 1,290,426 went to vote on the elections.

Background[]

Prior to the election, a series of by-elections were called on 1977 and 1979 after two and seven MPs, respectively, were vacated; however, the ruling PAP won every seat, allowing nine new candidates, which include Devan Nair and Tony Tan (both would later go on to become Presidents of Singapore) to enter Parliament. During the election, PAP also introduced a few other prominent members, such as future ministers Lee Yock Suan and Shunmugam Jayakumar, as well as a backbencher (and later Progress Singapore Party secretary-general and a 2011 presidential candidate) Tan Cheng Bock.

On 2 April the following year, then-President of National Trades Union Congress, Phey Yew Kok, resigned his Boon Teck seat after Phey was initially charged from a funding fraud of trade union funds, and left Singapore to avoid a bail; however, Lee chose not to call a by-election in his place since the current Parliament term was due to end.

Timeline[]

Campaign[]

The school streaming system, as well as Phey's fraud, became highlights of the campaign for the election.

Independent candidate Chiam See Tong, who made his political debut in the previous election, founded Singapore Democratic Party on 8 September, and would later go on to win Potong Pasir Constituency on the 1984 election on his third attempt (his first attempt was in the by-election last year) after the retirement of incumbent and cabinet minister Howe Yoon Chong.

A total of 43 opposition candidates went on to contest in 38 constituencies, which was nearly half of the total, with United People's Front representing the most number of candidates at 14. This was the first election (of the only three in history, with the other being 2006 and 2011) none of the candidates run as Independents.

Constituencies[]

Similar to previous elections, constituencies were either dissolved or created due to population. The constituencies which saw changes were:^[2][3]

Results[]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Action Party	494,268	77.66	75	+6
	Workers' Party	39,590	6.22	0	0
	United People's Front	28,586	4.49	0	0
	Singapore United Front	27,522	4.32	0	0
	Barisan Sosialis	16,488	2.59	0	0
	Singapore Malay National Organisation	13,435	2.11	0	0
	Singapore Democratic Party	11,292	1.77	0	New
	Singapore Justice Party	5,271	0.83	0	0
Total		636,452	100.00	75	+6
Valid votes		636,452	97.27
Invalid/blank votes		17,843	2.73
Total votes		654,295	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,290,426	50.70
Source: Nohlen et al., Singapore Elections[a]

By constituency[]

Constituency	Electorate	Turnout	%	Party		Candidate	Votes	%
Alexandra	18,163	No election			People's Action Party	Tan Soo Khoon	Elected unopposed
Aljunied	17,017	16,191	95.15		People's Action Party	Chin Harn Tong	13,313	84.59
					United Front		2,425	15.41
Ang Mo Kio	22,542	21,875	97.04		People's Action Party		17,436	81.99
					United People's Front		3,830	18.01
Anson	15,077	14,224	94.34		People's Action Party	Chengara Veetil Devan Nair	11,564	84.10
					United People's Front		2,187	15.90
Ayer Rajah	15,787	15,299	96.91		People's Action Party	Tan Cheng Bock	12,400	83.39
					Singapore Justice Party		2,470	16.61
Bedok	20,852	20,067	96.24		People's Action Party	Shunmugam Jayakumar	14,691	75.03
					Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura		3,527	18.01
					United People's Front		1,362	6.96
Boon Lay	21,317	20,752	97.35		People's Action Party		15,005	74.19
					United Front		5,220	25.81
Boon Teck	18,705	17,871	95.54		People's Action Party		11,917	68.14
					Barisan Sosialis	Lee Siew Choh	5,571	31.86
Braddell Heights	14,519	No election			People's Action Party	Lee Khoon Choy	Elected unopposed
Brickworks	13,054	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Bukit Batok	18,275	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Bukit Ho Swee	12,435	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Bukit Merah	19,046	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Bukit Panjang	23,305	22,019	94.48		People's Action Party		18,510	87.03
					United People's Front		2,759	12.97
Bukit Timah	15,334	No election			People's Action Party	Chor Yeok Eng	Elected unopposed
Buona Vista	17,287	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Cairnhill	18,133	16,273	89.74		People's Action Party		11,444	71.79
					Singapore Democratic Party		4,498	28.21
Changi	25,464	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Cheng San	17,044	16,674	97.83		People's Action Party	Lee Yock Suan	12,312	75.89
					Workers' Party		3,911	24.11
Chong Boon	13,877	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Chua Chu Kang	22,363	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Clementi	15,129	14,765	97.59		People's Action Party		12,162	85.42
					United People's Front		2,076	14.58
Delta	14,830	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Geylang Serai	19,962	18,832	94.34		People's Action Party		13,195	71.99
					United Front		5,134	28.01
Geylang West	22,298	21,273	95.40		People's Action Party	Teh Cheang Wan	17,585	85.45
					United People's Front		2,994	14.55
Havelock	12,524	No election			People's Action Party	Hon Sui Sen	Elected unopposed
Henderson	18,353	17,639	96.11		People's Action Party		13,363	77.42
					Workers' Party		3,897	22.58
Jalan Besar	15,058	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Jalan Kayu	23,766	22,705	95.54		People's Action Party		15,275	69.02
					Workers' Party		6,855	30.98
Joo Chiat	12,805	11,774	91.95		People's Action Party	Yeoh Ghim Seng	8,542	74.18
					Singapore Democratic Party		2,973	25.82
Jurong	18,658	No election			People's Action Party	Ho Kah Leong	Elected unopposed
Kaki Bukit	21,318	20,666	96.94		People's Action Party	Saidi bin Shariff	14,550	72.32
					Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura		4,072	20.24
					United People's Front	(Loses $1,500 deposit)	1,496	7.44
Kallang	16,222	No election			People's Action Party	Suppiah Dhanabalan	Elected unopposed
Kampong Chai Chee	20,237	19,535	96.53		People's Action Party		15,421	81.22
					United Front		3,565	18.78
Kampong Glam	17,241	No election			People's Action Party	Sinnathamby Rajaratnam	Elected unopposed
Kampong Kembangan	15,854	14,685	92.63		People's Action Party		11,194	78.74
					Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura		3,023	21.26
Kampong Ubi	16,250	15,467	95.18		People's Action Party		11,102	73.87
					Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura		2,813	18.72
					United People's Front		1,113	7.41
Katong	12,041	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Kebun Baru	17,709	16,969	95.82		People's Action Party	Lim Boon Heng	13,632	82.83
					United Front		1,883	11.44
					United People's Front		943	5.73
Khe Bong	15,425	14,817	96.06		People's Action Party		10,497	72.42
					Barisan Sosialis		3,998	27.58
Kim Keat	20,781	No election			People's Action Party	Ong Teng Cheong	Elected unopposed
Kim Seng	14,734	14,169	96.17		People's Action Party	Yeo Ning Hong	11,109	80.55
					Workers' Party		2,682	19.45
Kolam Ayer	22,775	21,828	95.84		People's Action Party	Sidek bin Saniff	16,995	80.35
					United Front		4,155	19.65
Kreta Ayer	11,973	No election			People's Action Party	Goh Keng Swee	Elected unopposed
Kuo Chuan	17,471	16,724	95.72		People's Action Party		12,378	75.92
					Barisan Sosialis		3,925	24.08
Leng Kee	15,166	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
MacPherson	18,997	18,096	95.26		People's Action Party	Chua Sian Chin	15,280	86.89
					United People's Front		2,306	13.11
Marine Parade	21,903	No election			People's Action Party	Goh Chok Tong	Elected unopposed
Moulmein	16,999	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Mountbatten	14,045	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Nee Soon	16,817	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Pasir Panjang	17,743	16,739	94.34		People's Action Party	Abbas bin Abu Amin	11,824	72.57
					Workers' Party	Zainul Abidin bin Mohamed Rasheed	4,470	27.43
Paya Lebar	11,666	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Potong Pasir	10,068	9,486	94.22		People's Action Party	Howe Yoon Chong	5,509	59.05
					Singapore Democratic Party	Chiam See Tong	3,821	40.95
Punggol	23,333	22,497	96.42		People's Action Party		17,103	78.86
					United Front		4,585	21.14
Queenstown	17,450	No election			People's Action Party	Jek Yeun Thong	Elected unopposed
Radin Mas	18,854	18,115	96.08		People's Action Party		11,335	64.07
					Workers' Party		6,356	35.93
River Valley	14,950	No election			People's Action Party	Tay Eng Soon	Elected unopposed
Rochore	14,705	No election			People's Action Party	Toh Chin Chye	Elected unopposed
Sembawang	17,785	16,932	95.20		People's Action Party	Tony Tan Keng Yam	13,415	81.55
					United People's Front	Harbans Singh	3,035	18.45
Serangoon Gardens	16,973	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Siglap	16,675	15,291	91.70		People's Action Party	Abdul Rahim bin Ishak	11,564	77.91
					Workers' Party		3,278	22.09
Tampines	18,982	18,108	95.40		People's Action Party	Phua Bah Lee	15,065	85.92
					United People's Front		2,469	14.08
Tanah Merah	15,711	No election			People's Action Party	Lee Chiaw Meng	Elected unopposed
Tanglin	13,332	No election			People's Action Party	Edmund William Barker	Elected unopposed
Tanjong Pagar	13,765	12,941	94.01		People's Action Party	Lee Kuan Yew	11,730	92.74
					United Front		555	4.39
					United People's Front		363	2.87
Telok Ayer	12,381	No election			People's Action Party	Ong Pang Boon	Elected unopposed
Telok Blangah	18,314	17,592	96.06		People's Action Party		9,187	53.02
					Workers' Party	Joshua Benjamin Jeyaratnam	8,141	46.98
Thomson	14,786	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Tiong Bahru	18,077	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Toa Payoh	13,799	13,210	95.73		People's Action Party		9,872	76.73
					Barisan Sosialis		2,994	23.27
Ulu Pandan	22,048	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
West Coast	18,949	18,455	97.39		People's Action Party	Wan Soon Bee	15,185	84.43
					Singapore Justice Party		2,801	15.57
Whampoa	19,131	No election			People's Action Party		Elected unopposed
Yio Chu Kang	14,012	13,640	97.35		People's Action Party		11,607	87.53
					United People's Front		1,653	12.47
Source: ELD

Notes[]

References[]