1961 Singaporean by-elections
{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=July 2021}}
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{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1961 Singaporean by-elections
| country = Singapore
| flag_year = 1961
| flag_image = Flag of Singapore.svg
| election_date = {{ubl|29 April 1961 (Hong Lim)|15 July 1961 (Anson)|}}
| previous_election = 1957 Singaporean by-elections
| previous_year = 1957
| next_election = 1965 Hong Lim by-election
| next_year = 1965
| type = legislative
| vote_type = Popular
| seats_for_election = 2 seats to the Legislative Assembly of Singapore
| registered = 21,708
| turnout = 20,384 (93.90%) {{increase}} 4.42%
| image1 =
| image1_size =
| leader1 = Ong Eng Guan
| party1 = Independent politician
| seats1 = 1
| seat_change1 = {{increase}} 1
| popular_vote1 = 7,747
| percentage1 = 41.05%
| swing1 = {{increase}} 41.05%
| image2 = File:David Marshall, 1950.jpg
| image2_size =
| leader2 = David Marshall
| party2 = Workers' Party (Singapore)
| seats2 = 1
| seat_change2 = {{increase}} 1
| popular_vote2 = 3,598
| percentage2 = 19.07%
| swing2 = {{increase}} 19.07%
| image3 = File:Mr. Lee Kuan Yew Mayoral reception 1965 (cropped).jpg
| image3_size =
| leader3 = Lee Kuan Yew
| party3 = People's Action Party
| seats3 = 0
| seat_change3 = {{decrease}} 2
| popular_vote3 = 5,872
| percentage3 = 31.11%
| swing3 = {{decrease}} 38.99%
| image4 = File:Lim Yew Hock (cropped).jpg
| image4_size = 150x150px
| leader4 = Lim Yew Hock
| party4 = Singapore Alliance
| seats4 = 0
| seat_change4 = {{nochange}}
| popular_vote4 = 1,482
| percentage4 = 7.85%
| swing4 = {{decrease}} 4.48%
| image5 = File:Tan Chye Cheng (cropped).png
| image5_size =
| leader5 = Tan Chye Cheng
| party5 = Liberal Socialist Party (Singapore)
| seats5 = 0
| seat_change5 = {{nochange}}
| popular_vote5 = 104
| percentage5 = 0.55%
| swing5 = {{decrease}} 9.90%
| image6 =
| image6_size =
| leader6 =
| party6 = SC
| seats6 = 0
| seat_change6 = {{nochange}}
| popular_vote6 = 69
| percentage6 = 0.37%
| swing6 = {{increase}} 0.37%
| title = Assemblymen
| before_election = {{ubl|Ong Eng Guan|Baharuddin Mohamed Ariff|}}
| before_party = PAP
| posttitle = Elected Assemblymen
| after_election = {{ubl|Ong Eng Guan|David Marshall}}
| after_party = {{ubl|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
{{Election box begin | title=By-election of 29 April 1961: Hong Lim}}
{{Election box candidate|
|party = Independent
|candidate = Ong Eng Guan
|votes = 7,747
|percentage = 73.31
|change =
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link||party=People's Action Party|candidate=Jek Yeun Thong|votes=2,820|percentage=26.69|change={{decrease}} 50.33}}
{{Election box majority||votes=4,927|percentage=46.62|change={{decrease}} 20.01}}
{{Election box turnout||votes=10,818|percentage=90.97|change={{decrease}} 0.64}}
{{Election box gain with party link|
|winner = Independent (politician)
|loser= People's Action Party
|swing = N/A}}
{{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin | title=By-election of 15 July 1961: Anson}}
{{Election box candidate with party link||party=Workers' Party of Singapore|candidate=David Saul Marshall|votes=3,598|percentage=43.32|change=}}
{{Election box candidate with party link||party=People's Action Party|candidate=Mahmud bin Awang|votes=3,052|percentage=36.75|change={{decrease}} 24.00}}
{{Election box candidate with party link||party=Singapore Alliance|candidate=Chee Phui Hung|votes=1,482|percentage=17.84|change={{decrease}} 4.20}}
{{Election box candidate with party link||party=Liberal Socialist Party|candidate=Mohammed Ismail bin Haji Mohammed Hussain|votes=104|percentage=1.25|change={{decrease}} 13.22}}
{{Election box candidate|
|party = Singapore Congress
|candidate = Mohammed Ibrahim bin Mohd Kassim
|votes = 69
|percentage = 0.84
|change =
}}
{{Election box majority||votes=546|percentage=6.57|change={{decrease}} 32.13}}
{{Election box turnout||votes=9,566|percentage=97.45|change={{increase}} 10.68%}}
{{Election box gain with party link|
|winner = Workers' Party of Singapore
|loser= People's Action Party
|swing = N/A}}
{{Election box end}}
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).{{cite web |title=20th July 1961 : Vote Of Confidence - JamesPuthucheary.org |url=https://www.jamesputhucheary.org/20-july-1961-vote-of-confidence/ |website=JamesPuthucheary.org - |access-date=8 December 2024 |date=20 July 1961}}
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
{{reflist}}
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110502232849/http://www.singapore-elections.com/lega-1961-be1/ Background of the first (April) 1961 By election]}}
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110502232854/http://www.singapore-elections.com/lega-1961-be2/ Background of the second (July) 1961 By election]}}
- [http://www.elections.gov.sg/elections_past_by1961b.html First (April) 1961 By Election's result]
- [http://www.elections.gov.sg/elections_past_by1961a.html Second (July) 1961 By Election's result]
{{Singapore elections}}