1961 Singaporean by-elections

1961 Singaporean by-elections

29 April 1961 (Hong Lim) 15 July 1961 (Anson)
2 seats to the Legislative Assembly of Singapore
Registered	21,708
Turnout	20,384 (93.90%) 4.42%
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Ong Eng Guan David Marshall Lee Kuan Yew Party Independent WP PAP Seats won 1 1 0 Seat change 1 1 2 popular vote 7,747 3,598 5,872 Percentage 41.05% 19.07% 31.11% Swing 41.05% 19.07% 38.99%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Lim Yew Hock Tan Chye Cheng Party SA LSP SC Seats won 0 0 0 Seat change popular vote 1,482 104 69 Percentage 7.85% 0.55% 0.37% Swing 4.48% 9.90% 0.37%
Assemblymen before election 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 the Hong Lim constituency, was held on 29 April with the nomination day held on 11 March, while the second by-election, for the Anson constituency, was held on 15 July with the nomination day held on 10 June.

Background

On 27 July 1960, Ong Eng Guan was among the three PAP members to be expelled from the party for filing the famous "16 resolutions" in the Legislative Assembly against the government and challenged the PAP to defeat him there after his sacking from the Cabinet. Ong later resigned his seat in Hong Lim on 29 December and later expelled by the party after making open disputes with his Cabinet colleagues, including over the abolishment of the City Council when he was the last Mayor. Two other PAP members, S. V. Lingam and Ng Teng Kian, had followed suit but did not resign their seats.

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 Lim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ong Eng Guan	7,747	73.31
	PAP	Jek Yeun Thong	2,820	26.69	50.33
Majority			4,927	46.62	20.01
Turnout			10,818	90.97	0.64
	Independent gain from PAP		Swing	N/A

By-election of 15 July 1961: Anson

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	WP	David Saul Marshall	3,598	43.32
	PAP	Mahmud bin Awang	3,052	36.75	24.00
	SA	Chee Phui Hung	1,482	17.84	4.20
	LSP	Mohammed Ismail bin Haji Mohammed Hussain	104	1.25	13.22
	Singapore Congress	Mohammed Ibrahim bin Mohd Kassim	69	0.84
Majority			546	6.57	32.13
Turnout			9,566	97.45	10.68%
	WP gain from PAP		Swing	N/A

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.

Two days after the Anson by-election, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew tendered his resignation and handed his role to the party's chairman Toh Chin Chye, who declined. Three days later, Lee then moved a motion of confidence in his own government; eight assembly members (AM) opposed the motion (which include David Marshall and members of the Singapore People's Alliance), while 16 abstained (which include the three members of Ong Eng Guan's UPP).

Lee then expelled the 13 PAP members, who perceived that these members who abstained the vote were allegedly pro-communist and disdain loyalty to his government; these members then formed the far left Barisan Sosialis (BS). 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 the death of Ahmad Ibrahim on 13 July.

References

• Background of the first (April) 1961 By election^[usurped]
• Background of the second (July) 1961 By election^[usurped]
• First (April) 1961 By Election's result
• Second (July) 1961 By Election's result