History · 1948–2025
Singapore first voted in 1948, governed itself from 1959 and became independent on 9 August 1965. One party, the People's Action Party, has won every general election since 1959; how many seats it left to others, and how the electoral system was redesigned around that, is the story of its elections.
Every general election · 1955–2025
Four parliaments in a row (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980) had no opposition member, and in 1968 the PAP won 51 of 58 seats unopposed on Nomination Day. Since independence, only 2015 and 2020 saw every seat contested.
Seventeen general elections · 1955–2025
Legislative Assembly · polling 2 April 1955
LF 10PP 4Ind 3SA 3DP 2
Rendel Constitution; the Labour Front won 10 of 25 elected seats and David Marshall became Chief Minister. 'Opposition' here means every party but the PAP.
Legislative Assembly · polling 30 May 1959
SPA 4PKMS 3Ind 1
First fully elected Assembly under self-government; voting compulsory from this election.
Legislative Assembly · polling 21 September 1963
BS 13UPP 1
State election five days after Singapore joined Malaysia.
Parliament · polling 13 April 1968
No opposition seat.
Barisan Sosialis boycotted the election; 51 seats were walkovers.
Parliament · polling 2 September 1972
No opposition seat.
Parliament · polling 23 December 1976
No opposition seat.
Parliament · polling 23 December 1980
No opposition seat.
The fourth Parliament in a row with no opposition MP.
Parliament · polling 22 December 1984
WP 1SDP 1
J.B. Jeyaretnam (WP) held Anson; Chiam See Tong (SDP) won Potong Pasir. First election under the NCMP scheme.
Parliament · polling 3 September 1988
SDP 1
First election with group representation constituencies: 13 three-member GRCs and 42 SMCs.
Parliament · polling 31 August 1991
SDP 3WP 1
The opposition's 'by-election strategy' left a PAP majority uncontested on Nomination Day.
Parliament · polling 2 January 1997
WP 1SPP 1
Parliament · polling 3 November 2001
SDA 1WP 1
Parliament · polling 6 May 2006
WP 1SDA 1
Parliament · polling 7 May 2011
WP 6
The Workers' Party won Aljunied GRC, the first GRC lost by the PAP, and held Hougang. Only Tanjong Pagar GRC was uncontested.
Parliament · polling 11 September 2015
WP 6
The first general election in which every seat was contested; the PAP's best share since 2001, months after Lee Kuan Yew's death and the SG50 jubilee.
Parliament · polling 10 July 2020
WP 10
Held during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Workers' Party won the new Sengkang GRC; Pritam Singh was then formally designated Leader of the Opposition. ELD's data gives 61.233%; 61.24% is often quoted.
Parliament · polling 3 May 2025
WP 10
Lawrence Wong's first election as Prime Minister. 15 SMCs and 18 GRCs; Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC was a walkover. The Workers' Party held Aljunied and Sengkang GRCs and Hougang SMC; Andre Low and Eileen Chong (WP) became NCMPs. 2,758,846 electors; 92.47% on Polling Day, 92.83% with overseas votes.
| Year | Seats | Unopposed | PAP seats | Opposition | PAP vote | Turnout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 97 | 5 | 87 | 10 | 65.57% | 92.83% |
| 2020 | 93 | 0 | 83 | 10 | 61.23% | 95.81% |
| 2015 | 89 | 0 | 83 | 6 | 69.86% | 93.70% |
| 2011 | 87 | 5 | 81 | 6 | 60.14% | 93.18% |
| 2006 | 84 | 37 | 82 | 2 | 66.60% | 94.04% |
| 2001 | 84 | 55 | 82 | 2 | 75.29% | 94.61% |
| 1997 | 83 | 47 | 81 | 2 | 64.98% | 95.91% |
| 1991 | 81 | 41 | 77 | 4 | 60.97% | 95.03% |
| 1988 | 81 | 11 | 80 | 1 | 63.17% | 94.70% |
| 1984 | 79 | 30 | 77 | 2 | 64.83% | 95.59% |
| 1980 | 75 | 37 | 75 | 0 | 77.66% | 95.48% |
| 1976 | 69 | 16 | 69 | 0 | 74.09% | 95.08% |
| 1972 | 65 | 8 | 65 | 0 | 70.43% | 93.55% |
| 1968 | 58 | 51 | 58 | 0 | 86.72% | 91.83% |
| 1963 · Assembly | 51 | 0 | 37 | 14 | 46.93% | 95.11% |
| 1959 · Assembly | 51 | 0 | 43 | 8 | 54.08% | 89.82% |
| 1955 · Assembly | 25 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 8.72% | 52.67% |
Computed from ELD's per-candidate results and checked against our curated figures: every year matches. 1955–1963 were Legislative Assembly elections; “opposition” there means every party but the PAP. A walkover adds seats but no votes. By-elections are not shown; the last was Bukit Batok SMC on 7 May 2016.
Contains information from Parliamentary General Election Results by Candidate and Registered Electors, Rejected Votes and Spoilt Ballots accessed on 6 November 2026 from data.gov.sg which is made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0.
Five eras
A British Crown colony elects its first legislators in 1948; the Rendel Constitution brings a mostly elected Assembly in 1955, and full internal self-government follows in 1959.
Six of the 22 seats on the Legislative Council are elected, on a small, registered electorate; the Singapore Progressive Party wins three. source ↗
25 of 32 Assembly seats are elected; the Labour Front wins 10 and David Marshall becomes Chief Minister. The PAP wins three. source ↗
The People's Action Party wins 43 of 51 seats in 1959. Singapore joins Malaysia on 16 September 1963 and leaves it on 9 August 1965.
Under the new State of Singapore constitution, with compulsory voting, the PAP wins 43 of 51 seats; Lee Kuan Yew is sworn in as Prime Minister on 5 June. source ↗
About 71% choose the merger terms in the government's white paper (option A). source ↗
Singapore joins the Federation of Malaysia; a state election follows on 21 September. source ↗
Barisan Sosialis walks out of Parliament in 1966 and boycotts the 1968 election; the PAP wins every seat in 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980.
Singapore separates from Malaysia and becomes a sovereign republic; the Legislative Assembly becomes Parliament. source ↗
Having boycotted the first sitting in December 1965, its remaining MPs resign; the party boycotts the 1968 election. source ↗ · not confirmed from the primary text
J.B. Jeyaretnam's 1981 Anson win ends the PAP's monopoly. The government adds NCMPs (1984), group representation constituencies (1988), Nominated MPs (1990) and an elected presidency (1991).
J.B. Jeyaretnam of the Workers' Party wins Anson with 51.93%, the first opposition MP since 1966. source ↗
The first general election in which the best-placed losing opposition candidates may be offered seats, so that Parliament has at least three opposition members (now 12). source ↗
Teams of three contest 13 GRCs, each including a Malay or Indian/other-minority candidate; GRCs later grow to six and are now four or five. source ↗
Non-partisan members appointed by the President for two and a half years; the first take their seats in November 1990. source ↗
Parliament amends the Constitution to make the presidency elected, with custodial powers over the reserves and key appointments. source ↗
Ong Teng Cheong wins 58.69% against Chua Kim Yeow. source ↗
In 2011 the Workers' Party takes Aljunied GRC and the PAP's share falls to 60.14%. Every seat is contested in 2015 and 2020; the opposition holds ten seats in 2020 and again in 2025.
The Workers' Party wins Aljunied GRC, the first GRC the PAP has lost, and six seats in all; the PAP's share is 60.14%, its lowest since independence. source ↗
Constitutional amendments add the Art. 19B reserved-election rule, raise the private-sector bar for candidates, and set the opposition minimum at 12 MPs with full NCMP voting rights. source ↗ · not confirmed from the primary text
Reserved for Malay candidates; Halimah Yacob is the only one found eligible and is declared elected on Nomination Day. source ↗
The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act lets any minister direct corrections or removal of online statements of fact deemed false; during an election period an alternate authority, a public officer appointed beforehand, takes that role. source ↗ · not confirmed from the primary text
The Workers' Party wins the new Sengkang GRC for ten seats; Pritam Singh is formally designated Leader of the Opposition. source ↗
Tharman Shanmugaratnam wins 70.41% of the vote in the first contested presidential election since 2011. source ↗
The fourth Prime Minister, sworn in at the Istana at 8pm; Lee Hsien Loong becomes Senior Minister. source ↗
The PAP wins 87 of 97 seats with 65.57%; the Workers' Party holds its ten. source ↗
After Parliament found Pritam Singh unsuitable following his conviction, the Prime Minister ended his designation; the Workers' Party declined to name a successor. source ↗
Prime ministers and presidents
Top: prime ministers (all PAP). Bottom: presidents. Before 1965 the head of state was the Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Yusof Ishak from December 1959).
1 · 5 Jun 1959 – 27 Nov 1990
People's Action Party
2 · 28 Nov 1990 – 11 Aug 2004
People's Action Party
3 · 12 Aug 2004 – 14 May 2024
People's Action Party
4 · 15 May 2024 – today
People's Action Party
1 · 9 Aug 1965 – 23 Nov 1970
Yang di-Pertuan Negara from 3 December 1959; President at independence; re-appointed on 4 December 1967; died in office.
2 · 2 Jan 1971 – 12 May 1981
Elected by Parliament; died in office.
3 · 23 Oct 1981 – 28 Mar 1985
Elected by Parliament; resigned (end date not confirmed on the Istana page).
4 · 30 Aug 1985 – 31 Aug 1993
Elected by Parliament; from 1991 exercised the new custodial powers.
5 · 1 Sep 1993 – 31 Aug 1999
First popularly elected President, 28 August 1993, against Chua Kim Yeow.
6 · 1 Sep 1999 – 31 Aug 2011
Elected unopposed in 1999 and 2005 (the only eligible candidate both times).
7 · 1 Sep 2011 – 31 Aug 2017
Elected 27 August 2011 in a four-way contest, narrowly ahead of Tan Cheng Bock (34.85%).
8 · 14 Sep 2017 – 13 Sep 2023
First reserved election (Malay candidates); elected unopposed on 13 September 2017.
9 · 14 Sep 2023 – today
Elected 1 September 2023 against Ng Kok Song (15.72%) and Tan Kin Lian (13.87%); turnout 93.55%.
Photos: Goh Chok Tong — Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India), GODL-India · Devan Nair — John Robert Cornell of Collaboration Journal of Integral Yoga, PDM-owner · Ong Teng Cheong — Víctor Bugge, CC BY 2.0 · S R Nathan — Calvin Teo, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tony Tan Keng Yam — Presidencia de la República, CC BY 2.0 · Tharman Shanmugaratnam — Mohd Fyrol Anwar Aziz Marican, Lim Sin Thai, CC BY-SA 4.0 . Others public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.