1961 Singaporean by-elections

July 2021 July 2021 July 2025 none 1961 Singaporean by-elections Singapore 1961 Flag of Singapore.svg 29 April 1961 (Hong Lim) 15 July 1961 (Anson) 1957 Singaporean by-elections 1957 1965 Hong Lim by-election 1965 legislative Popular 2 seats to the Legislative Assembly of Singapore 21,708 20,384 (93.90%) 4.42% Ong Eng Guan Independent politician 1 1 7,747 41.05% 41.05% David Marshall with "B" Company during WWII (cropped).jpg David Marshall Workers' Party (Singapore) 1 1 3,598 19.07% 19.07% File:Mr. Lee Kuan Yew Mayoral reception 1965 (cropped).jpg Lee Kuan Yew People's Action Party 0 2 5,872 31.11% 38.99% File:Lim Yew Hock (cropped).jpg 150x150px Lim Yew Hock Singapore Alliance 0 1,482 7.85% 4.48% 150x150px Tan Ek Khoo Liberal Socialist Party (Singapore) 0 104 0.55% 9.90% File:Felice_Leon-Soh.png Felice Leon-Soh SC 0 69 0.37% 0.37% Assemblymen Ong Eng Guan Baharuddin Mohamed Ariff PAP Elected Assemblymen Ong Eng Guan David Marshall Independent WP Two by-elections were held in 1961. The first by-election, for Hong Lim Constituency, was held on 29 April with the nomination day held on 11 March, while the second by-election, for Anson, was held on 15 July with the nomination day held on 10 June. Background In June 1960, Ong Eng Guan submitted 16 resolutions to the People's Action Party's (PAP) Central Executive Committee criticising the leadership, open disputes with his Cabinet colleagues, including over the abolishment of the City Council, resulting in his dismissal from the cabinet. He was later expelled from the party, alongside S. V. Lingam and Ng Teng Kian on 27 July.21 June 1960 Ong: The Full Story http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19600621-1.2.2 The Straits Times 120 June 1960 Ong Eng Guan Shock http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19600620-1.2.2 The Straits Times 1 On 29 December 1960, Ong resigned from the Legislative Assembly, compelling the government to call a by-election.29 April 1961 Choice between Jek and Ong https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19610429-1.2.3 17 July 2025 The Straits Times 1 NewspaperSG Ong contested as an independent candidate and won, defeating PAP's Jek Yeun Thong despite the party's leadership actively campaigning for Jek. Ong's victory highlighted his enduring popularity. On 20 April, nine days prior to the first by-election polling, another seat was vacated following the death of Anson's MP Baharuddin Mohammed Ariff. Workers' Party founder David Marshall, who was also a former Labour Front chief minister, would contest the seat. Electoral results By-election of 29 April 1961: Hong LimEe Boon Lee Sam Jack Ong's Night of Triumph https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/assets/images/ST175/NewspaperSG/1961-04-30/full.jpg 15 December 2025 The Straits Times 30 April 1961 1 Independent Ong Eng Guan 7,747 73.31 People's Action Party Jek Yeun Thong 2,820 26.69 50.33 4,927 46.62 20.01 10,818 90.97 0.64 Independent (politician) People's Action Party N/A By-election of 15 July 1961: AnsonELD 1961 Legislative Assembly By-election Result https://www.eld.gov.sg/elections_past_by1961a.html 16 July 2025 Elections Department SingaporeSingapore Legislative Assembly By-Election July 1961 > Anson https://sg-elections.com/by-election/1961-7/anson.html 16 July 2025 sg-elections.com Workers' Party of Singapore David Marshall 3,598 43.32 N/A People's Action Party Mahmud bin Awang 3,052 36.75 24.00 Singapore Alliance Chee Phui Hung 1,482 17.84 4.20 Liberal Socialist Party Mohammed Ismail bin Haji Mohammed Hussain 104 1.25 13.22 Singapore Congress Mohammed Ibrahim bin Mohd Kassim 69 0.84 N/A 546 6.57 32.1 8,305 86.82 12.00 1,261 13.18 12.00 9,566 97.45 10.68 9,816 1.06 Workers' Party of Singapore People's Action Party Aftermath Ong's landslide victory was attributed to his popularity with Hong Lim voters and his oratory skills. Incidentally, the PAP candidate Jek Yeun Thong was Ong's secretary during his time as Mayor in the City Council. Ong would form the United People's Party along with the two members on 18 June and would remain in his seat until his retirement in July 1965. However, following disagreements from the party, Lingam was later reinstated to PAP on 8 July 1962. Marshall's victory marked the first WP presence in the legislature and the return to the Assembly since his resignation from the Labour Front in 1956; however, he lost his re-election bid in 1963. Anson would not elect another WP candidate again until two decades later in 1981, where Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam claimed the seat. On 17 July, two days after the Anson by-election, PAP's chairman Lee Kuan Yew accepted responsibility for the two by-election defeats and submitted his resignation to party chairman Toh Chin Chye, who later rejected it and upheld Lee's mandate.Yap Lim Leong 2010 196 Lee then moved a motion of confidence in his own government in the early hours of 21 July after a thirteen-hour debate which had begun the preceding day, narrowly surviving it with 27 "Ayes", 8 "Noes" and 16 abstentions.Yap Lim Leong 2010 210 The PAP now commanded a single seat majority in the 51-seat assembly after 13 of its members had abstained.Yap Lim Leong 2010 211 Lee expelled the 13 who had broken ranks,Yap Lim Leong 2010 211 perceiving that these members who abstained the vote were allegedly pro-communist and disdain loyalty to his government. These members, including Lim Chin Siong, Sidney Woodhull and Fong Swee Suan, then formed the far-left Barisan Sosialis (BS).Mutalib, H Parties and politics: a study of opposition parties and PAP in Singapore Eastern Univ Pr 2003Bloodworth Dennis The Tiger and the Trojan Horse: Flashes of red in early Singapore 2010 Marshall Cavendish 978-981-4561-74-7 Singapore The party reduced its majority of seats to one, and would lose its government majority on 3 July 1962, ahead of the year's integration referendum, where Ho Puay Choo defected to BS, and later on 21 August, the death of minister Ahmad Ibrahim.Sam Jackie 29 August 1962 Minister Ahmad Ibrahim Dies, 35 https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitsbudget19620829-1.2.79 11 December 2025 The Straits Budget 13 NewspaperSG References Works cited Yap Sonny Lim Richard Leong Weng K. 2010 Men in White: The Untold Story of Singapore's Ruling Political Party Straits Times Press 9789814266512 https://books.google.com/books?id=Bb2SQQAACAAJ 1961 Singapore By-elections Singaporean by-elections Singaporean by-elections