1970 Singaporean by-elections

The by-elections were held in April, for five seats in the Parliament of Singapore, after the resignation of Members of Parliament of the People's Action Party (PAP). The PAP won all five seats; with three of them in an uncontested walkover.

1970 Singaporean by-elections
18 April 1970
5 seats to the Parliament of Singapore
Registered25,310
Turnout21,550 (85.14%)
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Lee Kuan Yew
  • Chng Boon Eng
  • Vetrivelu Rengaswamy
Party PAP UNF
Seats won 5 0
Seat change Steady Steady
Popular vote 14,545 6,255
Percentage 69.93% 30.07%
MPs before election
  • Chan Choy Siong
  • Lim Soo Peng
  • Lim Cheng Lock
  • Lee Teck Lim
  • Buang bin Omar Jumid

PAP

 Elected MPs
  • Yeo Choo Kok
  • Hon Sui Sen
  • Yeo Toon Chia
  • Chiang Hai Ding
  • Augustine Tan Hui Heng

PAP

Background

At the time of the 1968 general election, mass resignations by the members of Barisan Sosialis in the parliament, who opted to protest and "struggle for democracy" on the streets, had effectively removed all opposition from the parliament. In 1970, however, it was five members from the governing People's Action Party who were invited to resign and give way to new blood as a part of renewing PAP's ranks.

The resulting vacancies were in the constituencies of Delta, Havelock, Kampong Kapor, Ulu Pandan and Whampoa. By-elections were arranged, with nomination day set as 8 April 1970 and polling day as 18 April 1970.

Similar to 1968 general election, no opposition parties stood except a newly formed United National Front formed from remnants of the defunct Singapore Alliance. This party stood candidates in two seats out of the five, namely Kampong Kapor and Ulu Pandan. Once again the PAP won the other three by walkovers.

Election deposit

The election deposit was set at $500. Similar to previous elections, the election deposit would be forfeited if the particular candidate had failed to secure at least 12.5% or one-eighth of the votes.

Results
By-election 1970: Delta
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
PAP Yeo Choo Kok Walkover
Majority
Turnout 19,031
PAP hold Swing N/A
By-election 1970: Havelock
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
PAP Hon Sui Sen Walkover
Majority
Turnout 11,498
PAP hold Swing N/A
By-election 1970: Kampong Kapor
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
PAP Yeo Toon Chia 5,527 62.4 N/A
United National Front (Singapore) Chng Boon Eng 3,330 37.6 N/A
Majority 2,197 24.8 N/A
Turnout 9,195 83.7 N/A
PAP hold Swing N/A
By-election 1970: Ulu Pandan
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
PAP Chiang Hai Ding 9,018 75.5 N/A
United National Front (Singapore) Vetrivelu Rengaswamy 2,925 24.5 N/A
Majority 6,093 51.0 N/A
Turnout 12,355 86.3 N/A
PAP hold Swing N/A
By-election 1970: Whampoa
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
PAP Augustine Tan Hui Heng Walkover
Majority
Turnout 13,286
PAP hold Swing N/A

References
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