| Post: | Deputy Prime Minister |
| Body: | the Republic of Singapore |
| Insignia: | Coat of arms of Singapore.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 100px |
| Insigniacaption: | Coat of arms of Singapore |
| Flag: | Flag of Singapore.svg |
| Flagcaption: | Flag of Singapore |
| Incumbent: | Heng Swee Keat Gan Kim Yong |
| Style: |
|
| Abbreviation: | DPM |
| Appointer: | Prime Minister |
| Termlength: | At the Prime Minister's pleasure |
| Inaugural: | Toh Chin Chye |
| Salary: | S$1,870,000 annually (including S$192,500 MP salary) |
The deputy prime minister of Singapore is the deputy head of government of the Republic of Singapore. The incumbent deputy prime ministers are Heng Swee Keat and Gan Kim Yong, who took office on 1 May 2019 and 15 May 2024 respectively.
The deputy prime minister is the second highest post, and is a senior Cabinet minister in Singapore. Since the mid-1980s, Singapore has had two deputy prime ministers at a time. The holder will sometimes assume the role of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent from Singapore.
The office of Deputy Prime Minister dates back to 1959 and it was first appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Negara, when Singapore attained self-governance from the British Empire.
The title of Deputy Prime Minister remained unchanged after the merger with the Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and North Borneo to form Malaysia, while Singapore was a federated state of Malaysia between 1963 and 1965. Toh Chin Chye was the first deputy prime minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1968.
Heng Swee Keat was appointed as Minister of Finance and assumed the office as Deputy Prime Minister on 1 May 2019 while both Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam relinquished their positions. Heng Swee Keat was widely believed to be poised to succeed Lee Hsien Loong as the next prime minister following his appointment as Deputy Prime Minister in May 2019. However, Heng subsequently withdrew himself from the nomination in April 2021 citing age and health reasons and relinquished his finance portfolio.[1] [2]
Lawrence Wong assumed the office as Deputy Prime Minister on 13 June 2022, serving alongside Heng Swee Keat after being appointed as Minister of Finance in 2021. [3] Lawrence Wong left office on 15 May 2024 making him the shortest serving Deputy Prime Minister, on the same day Gan Kim Yong assumed the office of Deputy Prime Minister.
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political party | Cabinet | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 | Toh Chin Chye | 5 June 1959 | 2 August 1968 | 9 years, 58 days | PAP | Lee K. I Lee K. II | ||
| Vacant (2 August 1968–1 March 1973) | ||||||||
| 2 | Goh Keng Swee | 1 March 1973 | 1 January 1985 | 11 years, 306 days | PAP | Lee K. IV Lee K. V Lee K. VI | ||
| 3 | S. Rajaratnam | 1 June 1980 | 1 January 1985 | 4 years, 214 days | PAP | Lee K. V Lee K. VI | ||
| 4 | Goh Chok Tong | 2 January 1985 | 28 November 1990 | 5 years, 330 days | PAP | Lee K. VII Lee K. VIII | ||
| 4 | Ong Teng Cheong | 2 January 1985 | 1 September 1993 | 8 years, 242 days | PAP | Lee K. VII Lee K. VIII Goh I Goh II | ||
| 5 | Lee Hsien Loong | 28 November 1990 | 12 August 2004 | 13 years, 258 days | PAP | Goh I Goh II Goh III Goh IV | ||
| 6 | Tony Tan | 1 August 1995 | 1 September 2005 | 10 years, 31 days | PAP | Goh II Goh III Goh IV Lee H. I | ||
| 7 | S. Jayakumar | 12 August 2004 | 1 April 2009 | 4 years, 232 days | PAP | Lee H. I Lee H. II | ||
| 8 | Wong Kan Seng | 1 September 2005 | 21 May 2011 | 5 years, 262 days | PAP | Lee H. I Lee H. II | ||
| 9 | Teo Chee Hean | 1 April 2009 | 30 April 2019 | 10 years, 30 days | PAP | Lee H. II Lee H. III Lee H. IV | ||
| 10 | Tharman Shanmugaratnam | 21 May 2011 | 30 April 2019 | 7 years, 345 days | PAP | Lee H. III Lee H. IV | ||
| 11 | Heng Swee Keat | 1 May 2019 | Incumbent | PAP | Lee H. IV Lee H. V Wong I | |||
| 12 | Lawrence Wong | 13 June 2022 | 14 May 2024 | PAP | Lee H. V | |||
| 13 | Gan Kim Yong (born 1959) MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC | 15 May 2024 | Incumbent | PAP | Wong I | |||