2015 Singaporean general election
The 2015 Singaporean general election was held on 11 September to form Singapore's Parliament. The previous Parliament was dissolved on 25 August 2015 by President Tony Tan on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and candidates were nominated on 1 September that year.
The election was the first since Singapore's independence which saw all seats contested. Most of the seats were contested between two parties, with the only three-cornered fights occurring in three Single Member Constituencies. Using first-past-the-post voting, the election was also the first after the March 2015 death of Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore's 50th anniversary celebration on 9 August that year.
Out of 89 seats, the People's Action Party contested all and won 83, with the other 6 seats won by The Workers' Party of Singapore ; the single seat from Punggol East Single Member Constituency was the only seat to change hands, recaptured by PAP. Voter turnout was 93.56%, discounting overseas votes. PAP won its best results since 2001 with 69.86% of the popular vote, an increase of 9.72% from the previous election in 2011. WP scored 39.75% of votes in the 28 seats it contested, a drop of 6.83%. In the overall popular vote, WP scored 12.48% and the remaining seven parties less than 4% each. Three candidates failed to secure 12.5% of votes in their area and thus lost their electoral deposit.
Background
The maximum term of a Singaporean parliament is five years, within which it must be dissolved by the President and elections held within three months, as stated in the Constitution. As like the previous elections since 1959, voting is compulsory and results are based on the first-past-the-post system. Elections are conducted by the Elections Department, which is under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Office.The General Election was the 17th General Election in Singapore and is the 12th since independence in 1965. The election coincides with the golden jubilee of the Republic of Singapore's founding.
The governing People's Action Party have secured their 14th consecutive term in office since 1959. This will be the PAP's third election with Lee Hsien Loong as its Secretary-General, and the country's first election after the passing of its founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Analysts such as Kit Wei Zheng at Citigroup suggested in a report that an early election was indeed possible to garner "sympathy votes", it might well backfire. It is also the country's first election where there are no walkovers in any of the constituencies, as voting will take place in Tanjong Pagar GRC for the first time.
Political parties
The governing People's Action Party has been in power since 1959 and is currently led by the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The leading Opposition party is The Worker's Party, led by Low Thia Khiang, with 7 elected seats and 2 NCMP seats. The Singapore People's Party led by Chiam See Tong has 1 NCMP seat. A total of eight Opposition parties challenged the ruling party in this election.| Party | Abbreviation | Leader | Year formed | Seats before GE2015 | Parliamentary presence |
| PAP | Lee Hsien Loong | 1954 | 79 | Legislative Assembly: 1955-1965 City Council Elections: 1957-1965 Singapore Parliament: 1965–Present | |
| WP | Low Thia Khiang | 1957 | 7 + 2 NCMPs | Legislative Assembly: 1961-1963 City Council Elections: 1957-1959 Singapore Parliament: 1981–1986; 1991–Present | |
| SPP | Steve Chia | 1994 | 1 NCMP | Singapore Parliament: 1997–2015 | |
| SDP | Chee Soon Juan | 1980 | 0 | Singapore Parliament: 1984–1997 | |
| NSP | Spencer Ng | 1987 | 0 | Singapore Parliament: 2001–2006 | |
| SDA | Desmond Lim Bak Chuan | 2001 | 0 | Singapore Parliament: 2001–2011 | |
| RP Reform | Kenneth Jeyaretnam | 2008 | 0 | — | |
| SF SingFirst | Tan Jee Say | 2014 | 0 | — | |
| PPP | Goh Meng Seng | 2015 | 0 | — |
Electoral divisions
The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee is convened before every general election to review electoral boundaries in view of population growth and shifts. The Committee is appointed by the Prime Minister. The new electoral divisions were published on 24 July 2015, indicating the beginning of an election cycle.Singapore's largest newspaper, The Straits Times, created an interactive map of the boundary changes.
| 2011 | 2015 | |
| Seats | 87 | 89 |
| Electoral divisions | 27 | 29 |
| Group representation constituencies | 15 | 16 |
| Four-Member GRCs | 2 | 6 |
| Five-Member GRCs | 11 | 8 |
| Six-Member GRCs | 2 | 2 |
| Single member constituencies | 12 | 13 |
| Voters | 2,347,198 | 2,458,058 |
| Voters | 2,350,873 | 2,462,926 |
Changes in Group Representation Constituencies
Timeline
| Date | Event |
| 24 July | Publication of Electoral Boundaries report |
| 27 July | Certification of Registers of Electors |
| 25 August | Dissolution of 12th Parliament; Writ of Election issued |
| 28 August | Deadline of Submission of Political Donation Certificates |
| 1 September | Nomination Day/Live Forum Broadcast |
| 1–9 September | Campaigning Period |
| 3 September | First [|Live Political Party Broadcast] |
| 10 September | Cooling-off Day/Second Live Political Party Broadcast |
| 11 September | Polling Day |
| 15 September | Overseas Votes Counting |
| 16 September | Candidates revealed for Non-Constituency Member of Parliament |
| 1 October | 13th Parliament assembled |
| 15 January 2016 | Opening of 13th Parliament |
Pre-nomination day events
Nomination centres
The Elections Department issued the following information upon the issuance of the writ of election- Date: 1 September 2015
- Time: 11:00 p.m. to 12.00 p.m.
- Returning Officer: Ng Wai Choong
- Election Deposit: S$14,500
| Nomination centre | Electoral division |
| Assumption Pathway School | Bukit Panjang SMC Holland–Bukit Timah GRC |
| Bendemeer Primary School | Jalan Besar GRC Radin Mas SMC Tanjong Pagar GRC |
| Chua Chu Kang Primary School | Chua Chu Kang GRC Hong Kah North SMC Pioneer SMC |
| Fengshan Primary School | East Coast GRC Fengshan SMC Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC Punggol East SMC |
| Keming Primary School | Bukit Batok SMC Jurong GRC West Coast GRC Yuhua SMC |
| Kong Hwa School | MacPherson SMC Marine Parade GRC Mountbatten SMC Potong Pasir SMC |
| Poi Ching School | Hougang SMC Tampines GRC |
| Raffles Institution | Aljunied GRC Ang Mo Kio GRC Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC Sengkang West SMC |
| Yishun Primary School | Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC Nee Soon GRC Sembawang GRC |
is contesting in all seats.
Nomination day and campaigning events
Campaigning began from 1 September and ended on 9 September to canvass votes through physical rallies and stream on various media platforms. A live debate was held on 1 September in English and Chinese channel platforms, followed by two party political broadcasts airing on 3 and 10 September. The eve of polling day, known as cooling-off day, prohibits party from campaigning except for party political broadcasts.Outgoing incumbents and incoming candidates
A total of 72 candidates made their political debut this election, among which the PAP team include a former Second Permanent Secretary, a former MediaCorp television personality, a former police assistant commissioner, a founder of an organisation focusing animal welfare, and a former Chief of Defence Force. 14 MPs from the 12th Parliament stepped down this election, and one MP died during the term in office on 23 March this year, which is former Minister Mentor and first Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, who served the Tanjong Pagar division for a record 60 years, the longest tenure for any elected MPs.Election results
After polls closed at 8pm, vote counting began. Results were announced by Ng Wai Choong, chief executive director of the Energy Market Authority, who acted as the Returning Officer for the election. The first result was declared at 11.31pm on 11 September where PAP candidate Lam Pin Min won the Sengkang West Single Member Constituency with a majority of 17,564. The last result was declared at 3.10am on 12 September where Workers' Party team contesting Aljunied Group Representation Constituency, led by party's secretary-general Low Thia Khiang, won the constituency by a narrow margin of 1.9%, or a majority of 2,612.Contrary to expectations of a tougher contest with all constituencies being contested by the opposition parties, PAP won its best ever results since the 2001 general election, achieving a swing of 9.7% to achieve 69.9% of the vote as compared to the previous election in 2011 when it received 60.1%. The PAP unexpectedly reclaimed the constituency of Punggol East after it was lost to WP in a 2013 by-election, and achieved a swing in Aljunied GRC large enough to force a vote recount although the WP retained the constituency. With six elected seats for WP, three seats for the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament were eligible to complete a minimum of nine opposition members; WP was qualified for all three seats by-virtue of being the top three losing performers for the election and Fengshan, and one seat, and thus WP had nine represented seats for the upcoming Parliament.
The victory for the Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency has post its widest swing among all other Single Member Constituencies for this election, with 16.05%, while the largest swing for all contested constituencies was Bishan–Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency, with 16.66%. This victory resulted in the end of a 31-year reign of Singapore People's Party as they failed to win at least a seat in Parliament for the first time, despite Potong Pasir was SPP's best performing constituency for the election. Consequently, this was also the first time since 1986 only one opposition party represented the Parliament, and after the 1981's Anson's by-election where WP being the only opposition party to represent the Parliament alone, as none of the other seven opposition parties, including SPP and two independents, won contests.
Voter turnout for the election was 93.56%, with 2,304,331 votes cast.
Results summary
By Constituency
In an election's first, sample counts were released by the Elections Department to prevent speculation and misinformation from unofficial sources while counting is underway. All sample counts were released by 10PM – two hours after polling ended. With the exception of Aljunied and Punggol East, where counts were within a 4% error margin, all other figures showed that PAP had comfortable leads in 26 electoral divisions, while WP led in one electoral division.| Candidates and results of 2015 Singaporean general election | Candidates and results of 2015 Singaporean general election | Candidates and results of 2015 Singaporean general election | Candidates and results of 2015 Singaporean general election | Candidates and results of 2015 Singaporean general election | Candidates and results of 2015 Singaporean general election | Candidates and results of 2015 Singaporean general election | Candidates and results of 2015 Singaporean general election |
| Division | Seats | Voters | Party | Candidate | Votes | Votes % | Sample counts |
| Bukit Batok SMC | 1 | 27,077 | David Ong Kim Huat | 18,234 | |||
| Bukit Batok SMC | 1 | 27,077 | Sadasivam Veriyah | 6,588 | |||
| Bukit Batok SMC | 1 | 27,077 | Independent | Samir Salim Neji ' | 150 | ||
| Bukit Panjang SMC | 1 | 34,317 | Khung Wai Yeen | 10,152 | |||
| Bukit Panjang SMC | 1 | 34,317 | Teo Ho Pin | 21,954 | |||
| Fengshan SMC | 1 | 23,427 | Cheryl Chan Wei Ling | 12,417 | |||
| Fengshan SMC | 1 | 23,427 | Dennis Tan Lip Fong | 9,176 | |||
| Hong Kah North SMC | 1 | 28,145 | Amy Khor Lean Suan | 19,628 | |||
| Hong Kah North SMC | 1 | 28,145 | Ravi Philemon | 6,627 | |||
| Hougang SMC | 1 | 24,097 | Lee Hong Chuang | 9,565 | |||
| Hougang SMC | 1 | 24,097 | Png Eng Huat | 13,027 | |||
| MacPherson SMC | 1 | 28,511 | Chen Jiaxi Bernard | 8,833 | |||
| MacPherson SMC | 1 | 28,511 | Cheo Chai Chen ' | 215 | |||
| MacPherson SMC | 1 | 28,511 | Tin Pei Ling | 17,251 | |||
| Mountbatten SMC | 1 | 24,143 | Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss | 6,004 | |||
| Mountbatten SMC | 1 | 24,143 | Lim Biow Chuan | 15,331 | |||
| Pioneer SMC | 1 | 25,458 | Cedric Foo Chee Keng | 18,017 | |||
| Pioneer SMC | 1 | 25,458 | Ong Beng Soon Elvin | 5,581 | |||
| Potong Pasir SMC | 1 | 17,407 | Lina Chiam | 5,368 | |||
| Potong Pasir SMC | 1 | 17,407 | Sitoh Yih Pin | 10,602 | |||
| Punggol East SMC | 1 | 34,466 | Charles Chong You Fook | 16,977 | |||
| Punggol East SMC | 1 | 34,466 | Lee Li Lian | 15,818 | |||
| Radin Mas SMC | 1 | 28,906 | Independent | Han Hui Hui | 2,630 | ||
| Radin Mas SMC | 1 | 28,906 | Kumar Appavoo | 3,333 | |||
| Radin Mas SMC | 1 | 28,906 | Sam Tan Chin Siong | 20,246 | |||
| Sengkang West SMC | 1 | 30,119 | Koh Choong Yong | 10,721 | |||
| Sengkang West SMC | 1 | 30,119 | Lam Pin Min | 17,586 | |||
| Yuhua SMC | 1 | 22,617 | Grace Fu Hai Yien | 15,324 | |||
| Yuhua SMC | 1 | 22,617 | Jaslyn Go Hui Leng | 5,512 | |||
| Chua Chu Kang GRC | 4 | 119,931 | Gan Kim Yong Low Yen Ling Yee Chia Hsing Zaqy Mohamad | 84,850 | |||
| Chua Chu Kang GRC | 4 | 119,931 | Goh Meng Seng Lee Tze Shih Low Wai Choo Syafarin Bin Sarif | 25,475 | |||
| East Coast GRC | 4 | 99,118 | Gerald Giam Yean Song Daniel Goh Pei Siong Mohamed Fairoz Bin Shariff Leon Perera | 35,622 | |||
| East Coast GRC | 4 | 99,118 | Lee Yi Shyan Lim Swee Say Mohd Maliki Bin Osman Tan Soon Neo Jessica | 55,093 | |||
| Holland–Bukit Timah GRC | 4 | 104,491 | Chee Soon Juan Chong Wai Fung Md Sidek Bin Mallek Paul Anantharajah Tambyah | 31,494 | |||
| Holland–Bukit Timah GRC | 4 | 104,491 | Christopher de Souza Liang Eng Hwa Sim Ann Vivian Balakrishnan | 62,786 | |||
| Jalan Besar GRC | 4 | 102,540 | Chan Sio Phing Frieda L Somasundaram Redzwan Hafidz Abdul Razak Adrian Sim Tian Hock | 30,302 | |||
| Jalan Besar GRC | 4 | 102,540 | Heng Chee How Lily Neo Denise Phua Lay Peng Yaacob Ibrahim | 63,644 | |||
| Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC | 4 | 107,599 | Damanhuri Bin Abas Bryan Lim Boon Heng Tan Liang Joo, John Wong Souk Yee | 31,185 | |||
| Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC | 4 | 107,599 | Halimah Yacob Ong Teng Koon Alex Yam Ziming Lawrence Wong | 68,546 | |||
| West Coast GRC | 4 | 99,300 | Foo Mee Har Lim Hng Kiang S Iswaran Patrick Tay Teck Guan | 71,214 | |||
| West Coast GRC | 4 | 99,300 | Kenneth Andrew Jeyaretnam Noraini Yunus Darren Soh Guan Soon Andy Zhu Laicheng | 19,426 | |||
| Aljunied GRC | 5 | 148,142 | Chen Show Mao Sylvia Lim Low Thia Khiang Muhamad Faisal bin Abdul Manap Pritam Singh | 70,050 | |||
| Aljunied GRC | 5 | 148,142 | Chua Eng Leong K Muralidharan Pillai Lye Thiam Fatt Joseph Victor Shamsul Kamar bin Mohamed Razali Yeo Guat Kwang | 67,424 | |||
| Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC | 5 | 129,975 | Chee Hong Tat Chong Kee Hiong Ng Eng Hen Saktiandi Supaat Josephine Teo | 86,701 | |||
| Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC | 5 | 129,975 | Law Kim Hwee Long Yaoguang, Don Bryan Mohamad Abdillah Bin Zamzuri Mohamad Hamim Bin Aliyas Benjamin Pwee | 31,108 | |||
| Jurong GRC | 5 | 130,498 | Ang Wei Neng Desmond Lee Rahayu Binte Mahzam Tharman Shanmugaratnam Tan Wu Meng | 95,228 | |||
| Jurong GRC | 5 | 130,498 | Foo Ming Jin David Sukdeu Singh Tan Peng Ann Wong Chee Wai Wong Soon Hong | 24,869 | |||
| Marine Parade GRC | 5 | 146,244 | Fatimah Binte Abdul Lateef Goh Chok Tong Seah Kian Peng Tan Chuan Jin Tong Chun Fai Edwin Charles | 85,138 | |||
| Marine Parade GRC | 5 | 146,244 | Firuz Khan He Ting Ru Ng Foo Eng Dylan Terence Tan Yee Jenn Jong | 47,753 | |||
| Nee Soon GRC | 5 | 132,289 | Foo Seck Guan Kenneth Gurmit Singh S/O Sadhu Singh Luke Koh Tiong Yee Cheryl Denise Loh Xiu Wen Ron Tan Jun Yen | 40,841 | |||
| Nee Soon GRC | 5 | 132,289 | K. Shanmugam Kwek Hian Chuan Henry Lee Bee Wah Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim Ng Kok Kwang Louis | 82,287 | |||
| Sembawang GRC | 5 | 144,672 | Abdul Rasheed S/O Y Abdul Kuthus Kevryn Lim Spencer Ng Chung Hon Yadzeth Bin Haris Eugene Yeo Ren Yuan | 37,087 | |||
| Sembawang GRC | 5 | 144,672 | Khaw Boon Wan Lim Wee Kiak Amrin Amin Ong Ye Kung Vikram Nair | 96,718 | |||
| Tampines GRC | 5 | 143,518 | Baey Yam Keng Cheng Li Hui Desmond Choo Pey Ching Heng Swee Keat Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad | 95,305 | |||
| Tampines GRC | 5 | 143,518 | Choong Hon Heng Fong Chin Leong Lim Tean Nor Lella Teo Kway Huang Sebastian | 36,943 | |||
| Tanjong Pagar GRC | 5 | 130,752 | Ang Yong Guan Chirag Praful Desai Chiu Weng Hoe Melvyn Mohamad Fahmi Bin Ahmad Rais Tan Jee Say | 25,998 | |||
| Tanjong Pagar GRC | 5 | 130,752 | Chan Chun Sing Chia Shi-Lu Indranee Thurai Rajah Joan Pereira Melvin Yong Yik Chye | 90,635 | |||
| Ang Mo Kio GRC | 6 | 187,771 | Ang Hin Kee Darryl David Wilson Gan Thiam Poh Intan Azura Mokhtar Koh Poh Koon Lee Hsien Loong | 135,316 | |||
| Ang Mo Kio GRC | 6 | 187,771 | Gilbert Goh Jesse Loo Hoe Bock Roy Ngerng Yi Ling Osman Sulaiman M Ravi Siva Chandran | 36,758 | |||
| Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC | 6 | 187,396 | Abu Mohamed Harminder Pal Singh S/O Gurcharan Singh Desmond Lim Bak Chuan Lim Tung Hee Arthero Ong Teik Seng Wong Way Weng | 46,550 | |||
| Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC | 6 | 187,396 | Janil Puthucheary Ng Chee Meng Sun Xueling Teo Chee Hean Teo Ser Luck Zainal Sapari | 125,166 |
Analysis
Top 14 best PAP performers
- Constituencies with no comparison to 2011 were either due to them being new constituencies or the constituencies experiencing walkovers in the last election.
Top 15 best opposition performers
- Constituencies with no comparison to 2011 were either due to them being new constituencies or the constituencies experiencing walkovers in the last election.
Vote Swings
- Only the following constituencies may be compared with 2011 results as they existed in both elections, although most had changes in their electoral boundaries.
Sample count accuracies