1976 Singaporean general election explained

Country:	Singapore
Type:	parliamentary
Previous Election:	1972 Singaporean general election
Previous Year:	1972
Outgoing Members:	3rd Parliament of Singapore
Next Election:	1980 Singaporean general election
Next Year:	1980
Elected Members:	4th Parliament of Singapore
Election Date:	23 December 1976
Registered:	857,297
Turnout:	95.08% (1.53pp)
Seats For Election:	All 69 seats in Parliament
Majority Seats:	35
Image1:	Prime_Minister_Lee_Kuan_Yew_of_Singapore_Making_a_Toast_at_a_State_Dinner_Held_in_His_Honor,_1975.jpg
Leader1:	Lee Kuan Yew
Party1:	People's Action Party
Last Election1:	70.43%, 65 seats
Seats1:	69
Seat Change1:	4
Popular Vote1:	590,169
Percentage1:	74.09%
Swing1:	3.66pp
Prime Minister
Posttitle:	Prime Minister after election
Before Election:	Lee Kuan Yew
Before Party:	People's Action Party
After Election:	Lee Kuan Yew
After Party:	People's Action Party

General elections were held in Singapore on 23 December 1976. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won all 69 seats, the third of four consecutive elections in which they repeated the feat. Voter turnout was 95%, out of 857,297 voters eligible (from the total electorate of 1,095,817) from the 53 contested constituencies.^{[1] [2]}

Electoral system

The 69 members of Parliament were elected from 69 single-member constituencies, an increase from 65 used for the previous elections in 1972. The deposit was increased for the first time to $1,200, up from $500.^[2]

Timeline

Date	Event
6 December	Dissolution of 3rd Parliament
13 December	Nomination Day
23 December	Polling Day
7 February 1977	Opening of 4th Parliament

Constituencies

See main article: List of Singaporean electoral divisions (1976–80). Similar to previous elections, constituencies were either dissolved or created due to population. Six constituencies were abolished and ten new ones created, which were reflected on the table:

Constituency	Changes
New Constituencies
	Carved from parts of Nee Soon, Serangoon Gardens and Thomson
	Carved from Siglap
	Carved from Jurong
	Carved from Ulu Pandan
	Carved from Paya Lebar, Serangoon Gardens, Thomson and Upper Serangoon
	Carved from Leng Kee and Pasir Panjang
	Carved from Kuo Chuan and Toa Payoh
	Carved from Geylang West, Kallang and Potong Pasir
	Carved from Joo Chiat
	Carved from Henderson and Telok Blangah
Defunct Constituencies
	Absorbed to Kampong Glam and Telok Ayer
	Absorbed to Jalan Besar and Kampong Glam
	Absorbed to Telok Ayer
	Absorbed to Jalan Besar
	Absorbed to Anson, Tanjong Pagar and Tiong Bahru
	Absorbed to River Valley and Telok Ayer

Campaign

A total of 124 candidates contested the election. The ruling PAP was the only party to contest every one of 69 constituencies, while the five other opposition parties (namely Barisan Sosialis, the Singapore Justice Party, PKMS, the United Front and the Workers' Party) formed a Joint Opposition Council to cooperate at the polls. The Workers' Party nominated 22 candidates and United Front 14; no other party put forward more than six candidates, while two candidates ran as independents.

The election marked their political debut of two prominent candidates, independent Chiam See Tong and PAP Goh Chok Tong, who would become the then-longest-serving opposition MP and the second Prime Minister, respectively.^[3]

Results

By constituency

Constituency	Electorate	Party		Candidate	Votes	%
Alexandra	17,367		People's Action Party	Tan Soo Khoon	12,413	75.90
			Workers' Party	Edward Chua Boon Eng	3,941	24.10
Aljunied	17,461		People's Action Party	Chin Harn Tong	12,230	74.88
			Workers' Party	Lim Kang Chew	4,103	25.12
Ang Mo Kio	14,264		People's Action Party	Yeo Toon Chia	Uncontested
Anson	12,755		People's Action Party	Perumal Govindaswamy	Uncontested
Bedok	11,310		People's Action Party	Sha'ari bin Tadin	7,928	73.78
			People's Front	Sim Peng Kim	2,818	26.22
Boon Lay	15,496		People's Action Party	Ngeow Pack Hua	11,749	79.82
			Singapore Justice Party	Varghese Joseph	2,970	20.18
Boon Teck	18,872		People's Action Party	Phey Yew Kok	12,698	71.92
			Barisan Sosialis	Ng Seng Chua	4,958	28.08
Braddell Heights	14,031		People's Action Party	Lee Khoon Choy	Uncontested
Brickworks	14,062		People's Action Party	Ahmad Mattar	9,871	73.99
			United Front	Shums Tung Tao-Chang	3,470	26.01
Bukit Batok	15,650		People's Action Party	Chai Chong Yii	12,216	84.57
			Singapore Justice Party	Sulaiman bin Jaffar	2,229	15.43
Bukit Ho Swee	13,686		People's Action Party	Seah Mui Kok	9,451	73.50
			United Front	Hwang Ban Cheong	3,407	26.50
Bukit Merah	17,538		People's Action Party	Lim Guan Hoo	12,775	76.37
			United Front	Wong Kui Yu	3,952	23.63
Bukit Panjang	18,906		People's Action Party	Lee Yiok Seng	11,867	67.43
			Workers' Party	Ho Juan Thai	5,731	32.57
Bukit Timah	13,132		People's Action Party	Chor Yeok Eng	Uncontested
Buona Vista	16,267		People's Action Party	Ang Kok Peng	12,704	82.75
			United People's Front	Hashim bin Mukayat	2,649	17.25
Cairnhill	13,419		People's Action Party	Lim Kim San	7,979	68.17
			Independent	Chiam See Tong	3,726	31.83
Changi	17,827		People's Action Party	Teo Chong Tee	12,038	72.63
			Workers' Party	Zainal Abiden bin Mohamed Ali	4,537	27.37
Chua Chu Kang	18,136		People's Action Party	Tang See Chim	11,740	68.75
			Workers' Party	Chan Keng Sieng	5,336	31.25
Delta	14,821		People's Action Party	Yeo Choo Kok	10,636	76.40
			United Front	Ng Ho	3,286	23.60
Farrer Park	11,949		People's Action Party	Lee Chiaw Meng	Uncontested
Geylang East	14,738		People's Action Party	Ho Cheng Choon	9,405	68.49
			Workers' Party	Kum Teng Hock	4,326	31.51
Geylang Serai	14,178		People's Action Party	Rahmat bin Kenap	8,780	66.34
			Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Amnah binte Kuong Hussein	3,129	23.64
			United People's Front	Darus bin Shariff	1,326	10.02
Geylang West	18,101		People's Action Party	Yong Nyuk Lin	11,912	71.18
			United Front	Lim Tiong Hock	4,822	28.82
Havelock	12,492		People's Action Party	Hon Sui Sen	9,250	79.29
			Workers' Party	Ngoei Soon On	2,416	20.71
Henderson	18,182		People's Action Party	Lai Tha Chai	12,857	74.77
			Workers' Party	Hoe Boon Teck	4,338	25.23
Jalan Besar	14,933		People's Action Party	Chan Chee Seng	Uncontested
Jalan Kayu	15,447		People's Action Party	Hwang Soo Jin	8,883	61.57
			Workers' Party	Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair	5,544	38.43
Joo Chiat	14,241		People's Action Party	Yeoh Ghim Seng	9,601	74.73
			Workers' Party	Maideen bin Ameer Batcha	3,247	25.27
Jurong	18,310		People's Action Party	Ho Kah Leong	Uncontested
Kallang	17,282		People's Action Party	S. Dhanabalan	11,823	73.90
			United Front	Chan Yoke Kwong	4,175	26.10
Kampong Chai Chee	19,126		People's Action Party	Andrew Fong Sip Chee	10,729	59.92
			Workers' Party	J. B. Jeyaratnam	7,177	40.08
Kampong Glam	18,439		People's Action Party	S. Rajaratnam	13,114	80.18
			United People's Front	Ang Bee Lian	3,241	19.82
Kampong Kembangan	13,720		People's Action Party	Mohd Mansor bin Sukaimi	8,028	64.02
			Workers' Party	Rajaratnam Murugason	4,511	35.98
Kampong Ubi	20,811		People's Action Party	Ya'acob bin Mohamed	13,241	68.46
			Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	Sahid bin Sahooman	6,101	31.54
Katong	15,861		People's Action Party	Joseph Francis De Conceicao	10,721	76.18
			United Front	William James Cook	3,353	23.82
Khe Bong	15,677		People's Action Party	Ho See Beng	10,950	74.33
			Barisan Sosialis	Sim Say Chuan	3,782	25.67
Kim Keat	19,700		People's Action Party	Ong Teng Cheong	14,262	76.62
			Barisan Sosialis	Chin Tian Choo	4,353	23.38
Kim Seng	14,860		People's Action Party	Ong Leong Boon	10,975	77.65
			Workers' Party	Chiang Seok Keong	3,159	22.35
Kolam Ayer	19,371		People's Action Party	Sidek Saniff	13,175	72.46
			United Front	Rajah Chetty	5,007	27.54
Kreta Ayer	12,199		People's Action Party	Goh Keng Swee	Uncontested
Kuo Chuan	16,990		People's Action Party	Pathmanaban Selvadurai	11,931	74.42
			Barisan Sosialis	Ng Ah Chue	4,100	25.58
Leng Kee	18,475		People's Action Party	Ow Chin Hock	13,356	76.76
			United Front	Ng Lep Chong	4,043	23.24
MacPherson	18,716		People's Action Party	Chua Sian Chin	Uncontested
Marine Parade	19,528		People's Action Party	Goh Chok Tong	14,418	78.62
			United Front	Mohamed Mansor bin Abdul Rahman	3,922	21.38
Moulmein	12,654		People's Action Party	Sia Khoon Seong	8,571	72.73
			Workers' Party	Balakrishnan Ananthan	2,766	23.47
			Independent	Lee Nai Choo	447	3.80
Mountbatten	15,440		People's Action Party	Ng Yeow Chong	9,412	65.86
			United Front	Seow Khee Leng	4,878	34.14
Nee Soon	16,143		People's Action Party	Ong Soo Chuan	Uncontested
Pasir Panjang	12,142		People's Action Party	Othman Wok	8,138	71.93
			Workers' Party	Zainal Abiddin bin Mohd Shah	3,176	28.07
Paya Lebar	15,648		People's Action Party	Tan Cheng San	9,764	67.52
			Workers' Party	Wong Hong Toy	4,697	32.48
Potong Pasir	14,167		People's Action Party	Ivan Cuthbert Baptist	9,667	74.83
			Workers' Party	Quek Doh Lam	3,252	25.17
Punggol	20,444		People's Action Party	Ng Kah Ting	13,360	69.41
			Workers' Party	Tan Yong Sin	5,887	30.59
Queenstown	16,926		People's Action Party	Jek Yeun Thong	Uncontested
Radin Mas	18,418		People's Action Party	N. Naidu Govindasamy	13,246	75.65
			Workers' Party	Othman Abdullah	4,263	24.35
River Valley	17,022		People's Action Party	Tan Eng Liang	12,256	81.82
			Workers' Party	Wu Kher	2,724	18.18
Rochore	15,424		People's Action Party	Toh Chin Chye	9,053	65.50
			Barisan Sosialis	Lee Siew Choh	4,768	34.50
Sembawang	17,695		People's Action Party	Teong Eng Siong	13,661	83.57
			United People's Front	John Santhirasekaran P. M. Thevar	2,685	16.43
Serangoon Gardens	12,115		People's Action Party	Lau Teik Soon	7,471	68.74
			Workers' Party	Charles Harry Crabb	3,397	31.26
Siglap	13,849		People's Action Party	Abdul Rahim Ishak	9,733	78.20
			United Front	Weerappulli K. W. B.	2,714	21.80
Tampines	15,559		People's Action Party	Phua Bah Lee	Uncontested
Tanglin	13,332		People's Action Party	Edmund W. Barker	Uncontested
Tanjong Pagar	12,147		People's Action Party	Lee Kuan Yew	9,996	89.03
			United People's Front	Harbans Singh	1,232	10.97
Telok Ayer	15,515		People's Action Party	Ong Pang Boon	Uncontested
Telok Blangah	14,225		People's Action Party	Shaik Ahmad bin Abdul Haleem	Uncontested
Thomson	15,609		People's Action Party	Ang Nam Piau	10,636	74.12
			United Front	Chung Kit Wong	3,714	25.88
Tiong Bahru	19,589		People's Action Party	Ch'ng Jit Koon	15,248	83.10
			United People's Front	Teo Kim Hoe	3,100	16.90
Toa Payoh	13,933		People's Action Party	Eric Cheong Yuen Chee	9,633	73.63
			Barisan Sosialis	Abdul Rahim bin Abdul Rahman	3,450	26.37
Ulu Pandan	16,343		People's Action Party	Chiang Hai Ding	Uncontested
Upper Serangoon	13,705		People's Action Party	Sia Kah Hui	9,982	79.15
			United Front	Ng Kwee Lim	2,630	20.85
Whampoa	19,259		People's Action Party	Augustine Tan Hui Heng	14,636	80.98
			Workers' Party	Mohamed Shariff bin Yahya	3,438	19.02
Source: ELD

Notes and References

1. [Dieter Nohlen]
2. http://www.singapore-elections.com/general-election/1976/ Parliamentary general election 1976
3. http://www.singapore-elections.com/general-election/1976/seats.html Parliamentary general election 1976: Seats