1972 Singaporean general election

1972 Singaporean general election

2 September 1972
All 65 seats in Parliament 33 seats needed for a majority
Registered	812,926
Turnout	93.55% ( 1.72pp)
First party   Leader Lee Kuan Yew Party PAP Last election 86.72%, 58 seats Seats won 65 Seat change 7 Popular vote 524,892 Percentage 70.43% Swing 16.29pp
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Lee Kuan Yew PAP Prime Minister after election Lee Kuan Yew PAP

General elections were held in Singapore on 2 September 1972. The result was a fourth victory for the People's Action Party, which won all 65 seats, the second of four consecutive elections in which they repeated the feat. Voter turnout was 93.5% in the 57 constituencies (which represented 812,926 voters) that were contested, with PAP candidates elected unopposed in the other eight, which represents 95,456 voters.

Electoral system

See also: List of Singaporean electoral divisions (1972–76)

The 65 members of Parliament were elected in 65 single-member constituencies, an increase from 58 in the 1968 elections. Like the previous elections, boundaries and constituencies were carved due to development or population; the newly added constituencies were:

Constituency	Changes
New Constituencies
Boon Teck Kim Keat Kuo Chuan	Carved from Toa Payoh
Bukit Batok	Carved from Bukit Panjang, Bukit Timah and Choa Chu Kang
Henderson	Carved from Tiong Bahru
Kim Seng	Carved from Bukit Ho Swee and Delta
Leng Kee	Carved from Bukit Merah

Timeline

Date	Event
16 August	Dissolution of 2nd Parliament
23 August	Nomination Day
2 September	Polling Day
12 October	Opening of 3rd Parliament

Campaign

Unlike the previous elections in 1968, which saw the PAP returning to power after nomination day due to low number of contests (seven out of 58 seats), this election saw contests in all but eight seats. Barisan Sosialis renounced its boycott strategy and attempted to make a comeback, while the Workers' Party saw its rejuvenation with the introduction of its new secretary-general, also lawyer and former district judge, J. B. Jeyaretnam (who would later become the inaugural opposition Member of Parliament in 1981); former leader and ex-Chief Minister David Marshall contemplated standing as an independent, but ultimately did not run due to a stingray wound. PAP candidate and architect Ong Teng Cheong, who made his debut in the election, would later serve as a Deputy Prime Minister and also the first-elected (and fifth) President of Singapore.

Describing the alternative opposition parties as having lost their credibility with swerving political manoeuvres, coupled with Singapore's strong economic progress and successful housing development, the PAP declared that Singaporeans no longer saw need for political diversity, claiming that this led to squabbling that would impede its effective governance.

Results

Despite expectations that the PAP would not coast to victory and Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew even anticipating that the PAP winning around 45 seats would be a convincing victory, the PAP still managed to capture every seat in Parliament for the second time.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Action Party	524,892	70.43	65	+7
	Workers' Party	90,885	12.20	0	0
	United National Front	55,001	7.38	0	New
	Barisan Sosialis	34,483	4.63	0	New
	People's Front	22,462	3.01	0	New
	Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	10,054	1.35	0	New
	Independents	7,462	1.00	0	0
Total		745,239	100.00	65	+7
Valid votes		745,239	98.00
Invalid/blank votes		15,229	2.00
Total votes		760,468	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		908,382	93.55
Source: Nohlen et al., Singapore Elections

By constituency

Constituency	Electorate	Party		Candidates	Votes	%
Alexandra	24,499		People's Action Party	Wong Lin Ken	17,965	77.52
			Workers' Party	Wong Kui Yu	3,782	16.32
			United National Front	S.A. Hamid	1,427	6.16
Aljunied	19,278		People's Action Party	Chin Harn Tong	12,861	71.51
			Workers' Party	Lim Kang Chew	4,360	24.25
			United National Front	Amir Ali bin Mohamed	762	4.24
Anson	8,171		People's Action Party	Perumal Govindaswamy	5,027	74.34
			Workers' Party	Tay Kim Oh	1,291	19.09
			United National Front	Paul C. Kunjuraman	444	6.57
Boon Teck	15,958		People's Action Party	Phey Yew Kok	9,947	66.75
			People's Front	Lim Thiam Hock	4,954	33.25
Bras Basah	8,323		People's Action Party	Ho See Beng	Uncontested
Bukit Batok	14,563		People's Action Party	Chai Chong Yii	9,765	73.78
			United National Front	Rengaswamy Vetrivelu	3,471	26.22
Bukit Ho Swee	12,212		People's Action Party	Seah Mui Kok	7,862	68.77
			Barisan Sosialis	Chin Tian Choo	2,209	19.32
			Workers' Party	Wee Kia Eng	1,361	11.91
Bukit Merah	13,960		People's Action Party	Lim Guan Hoo	9,044	69.33
			Workers' Party	Kho Jiak Hiong	2,042	15.65
			Barisan Sosialis	Said bin Jali	1,958	15.02
Bukit Panjang	15,461		People's Action Party	Lee Yiok Seng	9,527	67.65
			Workers' Party	Tang Song Khiang	3,496	24.82
			United National Front	Leyu Tan Jib	1,060	7.53
Bukit Timah	15,476		People's Action Party	Chor Yeok Eng	9,475	66.78
			Barisan Sosialis	Krishnan K. Nair	4,714	33.22
Cairnhill	11,952		People's Action Party	Lim Kim San	8,458	80.92
			United National Front	Paul Elisha	1,994	19.08
Changi	18,297		People's Action Party	Sim Boon Woo	10,512	62.42
			Workers' Party	Normah binte Yahya	4,917	29.20
			United National Front	Omar bin Ninggal	1,412	8.38
Chua Chu Kang	15,669		People's Action Party	Tang See Chim	9,002	62.36
			Barisan Sosialis	Ng Ah Chue	5,434	37.64
Crawford	9,285		People's Action Party	Ang Kok Peng	6,040	72.60
			Workers' Party	Wu Kher	1,565	18.81
			United National Front	N. M. Abdul Wahid	714	8.59
Delta	13,781		People's Action Party	Yeo Choo Kok	9,149	70.72
			Workers' Party	Wong Hong Toy	2,186	16.90
			Barisan Sosialis	Abdul Rahim bin Abdul Rahman	1,602	12.38
Farrer Park	12,707		People's Action Party	Lee Chiaw Meng	8,521	73.82
			Workers' Party	J. B. Jeyaretnam	2,668	23.11
			United National Front	S. A. Latiff	354	3.07
Geylang East	16,580		People's Action Party	Ho Cheng Choon	9,692	64.24
			Workers' Party	Kum Teng Hock	4,951	32.81
			United National Front	Mohamed Elias bin Ibrahim	445	2.95
Geylang Serai	13,837		People's Action Party	Rahmat bin Kenap	6,711	53.59
			Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Ahmad bin Haji Taff	4,978	39.75
			United National Front	Raja Rom bin Raja Jaafar	833	6.66
Geylang West	11,653		People's Action Party	Yong Nyuk Lin	7,320	69.28
			Workers' Party	Quek Doh Lam	3,246	30.72
Havelock	10,849		People's Action Party	Hon Sui Sen	7,151	72.65
			Barisan Sosialis	Harbans Singh	2,692	27.35
Henderson	9,431		People's Action Party	Lai Tha Chai	6,577	74.43
			People's Front	Wong Wen Nan	2,260	25.57
Hong Lim	7,486		People's Action Party	Lee Khoon Choy	4,835	73.79
			People's Front	Wong Kong Hoa	1,717	26.21
Jalan Besar	10,310		People's Action Party	Chan Chee Seng	7,794	83.86
			United National Front	Johnnie Ng Kong Wah	1,500	16.14
Jalan Kayu	14,982		People's Action Party	Hwang Soo Jin	8,283	59.42
			Workers' Party	Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair	5,137	36.86
			United National Front	Ong Seng Kok	518	3.72
Joo Chiat	15,684		People's Action Party	Yeoh Ghim Seng	11,669	83.49
			United National Front	William James Cook	2,307	16.51
Jurong	15,348		People's Action Party	Ho Kah Leong	10,741	76.43
			United National Front	Ng Soon Hee	3,312	23.57
Kallang	17,232		People's Action Party	Abdul Aziz bin Karim	12,626	79.75
			United National Front	Sultan Mydin bin Abdul Hamid	3,205	20.25
Kampong Chai Chee	15,564		People's Action Party	Sha'ari bin Tadin	7,458	52.39
			Barisan Sosialis	Ng Yang Choo	4,188	29.42
			Workers' Party	Hashim bin Yadi	2,590	18.19
Kampong Glam	7,542		People's Action Party	S. Rajaratnam	Uncontested
Kampong Kapor	9,361		People's Action Party	Yeo Toon Chia	6,132	73.15
			United National Front	Chng Boon Eng	2,251	26.85
Kampong Kembangan	18,480		People's Action Party	Mohamed Ariff bin Suradi	9,671	57.53
			Workers' Party	Othman bin Abdullah	5,451	32.43
			United National Front	Kamaruddin bin Hassan	1,687	10.04
Kampong Ubi	15,431		People's Action Party	Ya'acob bin Mohamed	8,030	56.86
			Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Abdul Rahman bin Mohamed Zin	5,076	35.94
			United National Front	Darus bin Shariff	1,017	7.20
Katong	16,766		People's Action Party	Joseph Francis De Conceicao	Uncontested
Kim Keat	14,640		People's Action Party	Ong Teng Cheong	10,262	74.00
			Workers' Party	Seow Khee Leng	3,022	21.79
			United National Front	Winston J. Paglar	583	4.21
Kim Seng	12,893		People's Action Party	Ong Leong Boon	8,178	67.74
			Workers' Party	Heng Swee Tong	3,895	32.26
Kreta Ayer	9,627		People's Action Party	Goh Keng Swee	Uncontested
Kuo Chuan	15,142		People's Action Party	Pathmanaban Selvadurai	10,523	73.69
			Barisan Sosialis	P. Manokaran	3,757	26.31
Leng Kee	17,158		People's Action Party	Ahmad Mattar	10,929	68.28
			Workers' Party	Ng Ho	4,036	25.21
			United National Front	N. Loganathan	1,042	6.51
MacPherson	15,637		People's Action Party	Chua Sian Chin	10,117	68.76
			Workers' Party	Lee Tow Kiat	4,597	31.24
Moulmein	11,144		People's Action Party	Sia Khoon Seong	7,412	72.43
			Workers' Party	Cheng Poh Yew	2,822	27.57
Mountbatten	14,396		People's Action Party	Ng Yeow Chong	Uncontested
Nee Soon	17,061		People's Action Party	Ong Soo Chuan	11,636	73.29
			United National Front	Yap Fatt Shing	4,240	26.71
Pasir Panjang	13,964		People's Action Party	Othman Wok	9,209	71.77
			United National Front	Syed Ahmad bin Syed Husain	3,623	28.23
Paya Lebar	19,102		People's Action Party	Tay Boon Too	11,073	61.59
			Workers' Party	Tan Poh Seng	5,361	29.82
			Independent	Kow Kee Seng	1,545	8.59
Potong Pasir	13,103		People's Action Party	Ivan Cuthbert Baptist	7,772	66.22
			Workers' Party	Rajaratnam Murugason	3,391	28.89
			United National Front	Harnek Singh	573	4.89
Punggol	15,303		People's Action Party	Ng Kah Ting	8,215	58.13
			Independent	Ng Teng Kian	5,917	41.87
Queenstown	18,458		People's Action Party	Jek Yeun Thong	14,200	81.24
			Workers' Party	Chua Eng Huat	2,504	28.89
			United National Front	Lew Ban Huat	775	4.43
River Valley	12,189		People's Action Party	Tan Eng Liang	Uncontested
Rochore	11,589		People's Action Party	Toh Chin Chye	6,218	60.40
			Barisan Sosialis	Lee Siew Choh	4,076	39.60
Sembawang	12,217		People's Action Party	Teong Eng Siong	8,466	77.36
			United National Front	Mohd Arif bin Sahul Hameed	2,478	22.64
Sepoy Lines	12,308		People's Action Party	Wee Toon Boon	9,160	81.30
			United National Front	Ho Soo Hock	2,107	18.70
Serangoon Gardens	13,836		People's Action Party	Leonard Peter Rodrigo	Uncontested
Siglap	16,091		People's Action Party	Abdul Rahim Ishak	11,456	78.63
			Workers' Party	Ariffin bin Noordin	2,529	17.36
			United National Front	Yahiya bin Haji Mohamed Ghouse	584	4.01
Stamford	8,212		People's Action Party	Andrew Fong Sip Chee	5,083	71.77
			Workers' Party	Chiang Seok Keong	1,999	28.23
Tampines	15,302		People's Action Party	Phua Bah Lee	9,049	64.30
			People's Front	Tan Sim Hock	5,025	35.70
Tanglin	12,777		People's Action Party	Edmund W. Barker	Uncontested
Tanjong Pagar	9,946		People's Action Party	Lee Kuan Yew	7,542	84.08
			People's Front	Leong Mun Kwai	1,428	15.92
Telok Ayer	10,547		People's Action Party	Ong Pang Boon	7,612	83.98
			United National Front	Ng Oh Chew	1,452	16.02
Telok Blangah	14,624		People's Action Party	N. Naidu Govindasamy	7,669	57.92
			Workers' Party	Zainul Abiddin bin Mohd Shah	4,714	35.60
			United National Front	Muthusamy Ramasamy	858	6.48
Thomson	18,702		People's Action Party	Ang Nam Piau	12,378	72.55
			People's Front	Wong Chung Kit	4,683	27.45
Tiong Bahru	17,394		People's Action Party	Ch'ng Jit Koon	11,991	75.62
			Workers' Party	Seow Yong Chew	2,972	18.74
			United National Front	Lee Kah Chit	894	5.64
Toa Payoh	15,742		People's Action Party	Eric Cheong Yuen Chee	10,884	73.85
			Barisan Sosialis	Tay Cheng Kang	3,853	26.15
Ulu Pandan	14,485		People's Action Party	Chiang Hai Ding	9,378	71.83
			United National Front	Ang Kheng Kwan	3,678	28.17
Upper Serangoon	16,621		People's Action Party	Sia Kah Hui	11,862	77.72
			United National Front	Lim Kia Joo	3,401	22.28
Whampoa	12,044		People's Action Party	Augustine Tan Hui Heng	8,773	78.55
			People's Front	Phang Juet Haw	2,395	21.45
Source: ELD Singapore Elections