Punggol East Single Member Constituency
Punggol East | |
---|---|
Former Single Member Constituency for the Parliament of Singapore | |
Region | Northeastern Singapore |
Electorate | 35,436 |
Former constituency | |
Created | 2011 |
Abolished | 2020 |
Seats | 1 |
Member(s) | Charles Chong |
Town Council | Pasir Ris–Punggol Aljuined–Hougang–Punggol East |
Created from | Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC Cheng San GRC |
Replaced by | Sengkang GRC |
Punggol East Single Member Constituency was a single member constituency (SMC) located in the north-eastern area of Singapore.
Following the release of the Electoral Boundaries Review committee report for the 2020 general elections, Punggol East SMC was merged into the 4-member Sengkang Group Representation Constituency (GRC).[1]
History[]
In 2011, the constituency was carved out from Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC , and it was the sole constituency to feature a three-cornered contest for the election (and also the first three-cornered contest since 2001, where it contested Bukit Timah SMC). The election was won by People's Action Party's Michael Palmer, who was the incumbent MP of the ward with 54.54% of the votes, beating Workers' Party's newcomer Lee Li Lian and Singapore Democratic Alliance's secretary-general Desmond Lim, who garnered 41.01% and 4.45% of the votes, respectively. As Lim has garnered less than the 12.5% vote threshold, his election deposit was forfeited by the election department.
Following Palmer's resignation on December,[2][3] the ward was placed in the care of Minister of State Teo Ser Luck, who was the MP of the neighbouring Pasir Ris-Pungggol GRC.[4] On 9 January 2013, a by-election for the ward was announced to be held on 26 January.[5] On 10 January, PAP unveiled their candidate for the by-election: Dr Koh Poh Koon, a 40-year-old colorectal surgeon from Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, who had joined the party only three weeks prior. Both WP's Lee and SDA's Lim had returned to contest the by-election. The election also featured a fourth candidate, the Secretary-general of Reform Party, Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who he previously contested West Coast GRC in the 2011 election.
There were two rounds of rallies in this by-election, Workers' Party's rally drew the most audiences amounting ranging 5,000 to 12,000 audiences, while Singapore Democratic Alliance using the social media and technology to draw audiences via a series of videos posted to YouTube.
During the vote counting, SDA's Desmond Lim officially conceded defeat.[6] Jeyaretnam and Lim both lost their election deposit in this by-election. At 0.57%, Lim also set a record for the lowest percentage garnered in an election since post-independence Singapore.[7]
WP's Lee won the by-election with 16,038 votes, or 54.52% (Including overseas votes, the percentage of valid votes cast were 54.50%, or 16,045 votes), marking the second by-election where an opposition had won a parliament seat from the ruling party, after 1981. She was sworn in at the Parliament on 4 February 2013, and held her Meet-The-People session on the same day.[8] After Lee's victory of the SMC, Aljunied-Hougang Town Council went for a merger with Punggol East to achieve economics of scale named Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council.
This ward has been absorbed into a new Sengkang GRC for the 2020 general election, after the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) released its report on 13 March 2020, and renamed Rivervale.[9]
Member of Parliament[]
Year | Incumbent | Party | |
2011 | Michael Palmer | PAP | |
2013 | Lee Li Lian | WP | |
2015 | Charles Chong | PAP |
Candidates and results[]
Elections in 2010s[]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PAP | Michael Palmer | 16,994 | 54.54 | ||
WP | Lee Li Lian | 12,777 | 41.01 | ||
SDA | Desmond Lim Bak Chuan | 1,387 | 4.45 | ||
Majority | 3,170 | 10.77 | |||
Registered electors | {{{reg. electors}}} | ||||
Turnout | 31,709 | 95.3 | |||
PAP win (new seat) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
WP | Lee Li Lian | 16,045 | 54.50 | 13.49 | |
PAP | Koh Poh Koon | 12,875 | 43.73 | N/A | |
RP | Kenneth Jeyaretnam | 353 | 1.20 | N/A | |
SDA | Desmond Lim Bak Chuan | 168 | 0.57 | 3.88 | |
Majority | 3,170 | 10.77 | 2.76 | ||
Registered electors | 31,659 | 4.9% | |||
Rejected ballots | 418 | 1.40 | 0.3 | ||
Turnout | 29,859 | 94.31 | -0.99 | ||
WP gain from PAP | Swing | 13.49 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PAP | Charles Chong | 16,957 | 51.76 | 8.03 | |
WP | Lee Li Lian | 15,801 | 48.24 | 6.26 | |
Majority | 1,156 | 3.52 | |||
Registered electors | 34,466 | ||||
Rejected ballots | 379 | 1.14 | 0.26 | ||
Turnout | 33,137 | 96.14 | 1.83 | ||
PAP gain from WP | Swing | 8.03 |
References[]
- ^ "More electoral divisions, no 6-member GRCs in coming election: EBRC report". CNA. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
- ^ Tan, Judith; The New Paper (15 December 2012). "SMSes expose Michael Palmer's affair". Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
- ^ "Laura Ong's husband: She is a good wife". AsiaOne. 13 December 2012. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
- ^ "Teo Ser Luck 'not close' to woman in affair". www.asiaone.com. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ "Punggol East by-election on 26 Jan". CNA. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ "SDA's Lim concedes defeat". Channel NewsAsia. 26 January 2013.
- ^ "SDA scores worst result in post-independence history". www.asiaone.com.
- ^ "WP's Lee Li Lian holds first Meet-the-People session". Channel NewsAsia. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ "More electoral divisions, no 6-member GRCs in coming election: EBRC report". CNA. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
- 2011 establishments in Singapore
- 2020 disestablishments in Singapore
- Singaporean electoral divisions
- Sengkang
- Constituencies established in 2011
- Constituencies disestablished in 2020