Senior Minister

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Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore
Incumbent Teo Chee Hean Tharman Shanmugaratnam since 1 May 2019
Prime Minister's Office
Style	Senior Minister (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic)
Abbreviation	SM
Appointer	Prime Minister
Term length	At the Prime Minister's pleasure
Formation	2 January 1985; 36 years ago (1985-01-02)
Salary	S$1,100,000 annually (including S$192,500 MP salary)
Website	www.pmo.gov.sg

The title "Senior Minister" was also a title used in Canada, before "Deputy Prime Minister" was introduced in 1977.

Senior Minister is a position in the Cabinet of Singapore. Holders of this office has served as either the prime minister or the deputy prime minister. Among the executive branch officeholders in the order of precedence, the position ranks after the prime minister and the deputy prime minister. They also serve as part of the Prime Minister's Office and work at The Istana.

Background[]

S. Rajaratnam was one of the co-founders of the People's Action Party. Upon Singapore's independence in 1965, he served as the country's first Minister for Foreign Affairs before being appointed Deputy Prime Minister in 1980. He then took on the newly created role of Senior Minister in 1985 before retiring in 1988.^[1]

Lee Kuan Yew was Singapore's first Prime Minister. After handing over the office to Goh Chok Tong in 1990, he was appointed Senior Minister by his successor. He was ranked second in the order of precedence, superseding the sitting Deputy Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong and Ong Teng Cheong.^[2]

Goh Chok Tong was appointed Senior Minister in 2004 after handing over the office of Prime Minister to Lee Hsien Loong. As Senior Minister, he was ranked second in the order of precedence, while Lee Kuan Yew, who was appointed Minister Mentor, ranked third in the order of precedence.^[3]

S. Jayakumar relinquished his role as Deputy Prime Minister in 2009 and was appointed Senior Minister before retiring from politics before the 2011 General Election.^[4] After the election, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong left the Cabinet but remained as backbench Members of Parliaments. Goh accepted an honorary title of Emeritus Senior Minister (ESM); Lee was also offered a similar title but he declined and continued to serve as a backbench Member of Parliament until his death on 23 March 2015.^[5]

Between 21 May 2011 and 1 May 2019, no ministers held the office of Senior Minister. After this eight-year gap, two former Deputy Prime Minister, Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, stepped down for Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies Heng Swee Keat to take over as Deputy Prime Minister, and took up their new offices as Senior Ministers.^[6]

List of senior ministers[]

The Senior Minister is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent ministers are Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

No.	Image	Name	Start of term	End of term	Political Party
1		S. Rajaratnam	2 January 1985	3 September 1988	People's Action Party
Vacant (1988–1990)
2		Lee Kuan Yew	28 November 1990	12 August 2004	People's Action Party
3		Goh Chok Tong	12 August 2004	21 May 2011
4		S. Jayakumar	1 April 2009	21 May 2011
Vacant (2011–2019)
5		Teo Chee Hean	1 May 2019	Incumbent	People's Action Party
		Tharman Shanmugaratnam	1 May 2019	Incumbent

See also[]

• Prime Minister of Singapore
• Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
• Minister Mentor
• Minister without portfolio

References[]