Jump to content

1957 Singaporean by-elections

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from 1957 Cairnhill by-election)
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

A by-election was held on 29 June 1957, with nomination day occurring on 18 May 1957 in both the constituencies of Cairnhill and Tanjong Pagar. Ultimately, Labour Front lost the Cairnhill seat to the new Liberal Socialist Party candidate Soh Ghee Soon, while Tanjong Pagar incumbent Lee Kuan Yew retained his seat.

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.

Background

[edit]

When talks with the British authorities for self-governance fell, Chief Minister David Marshall resigned his Cairnhill seat and his Labour Front party membership on 7 June 1956; LF representative Keng Bang Ee was fielded as a candidate.

The seat of Tanjong Pagar was vacated when Lee Kuan Yew resigned his seat when Marshall publicly challenged Lee in a by-election, in which Lee accepted. Marshall withdrew his bid prior to nominations citing pressured by speculations of a street protest; Chong Wei Ling became the candidate in Marshall's place.

Ahead of the election, the Singapore Malay Union (SMU) was expelled by its alliance partners consisted of UMNO and MCA. Tengku Muda, a candidate for Cairnhill, was considered by the elections department of Singapore to view him as another independent candidate.

Results

[edit]

Cairnhill

[edit]
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 Decrease 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 Increase 7.09
Turnout 5,889 39.79 Decrease 12.04
LSP gain from LF Swing N/A

Tanjong Pagar

[edit]
By-election 1957: Tanjong Pagar
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
PAP Lee Kuan Yew 4,707 68.13 Decrease 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 Decrease 17.43
Turnout 6,985 47.32 Decrease 10.29
PAP hold Swing N/A

References

[edit]