1972 Singaporean general election

1972 Singaporean general election

2 September 1972
All 65 seats to the Parliament of Singapore 33 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	93.5%
First party   Leader Lee Kuan Yew Party PAP Leader's seat Tanjong Pagar Last election 58 seats, 86.7% Seats before 58 Seats won 65 Seat change 7 Popular vote 524,892 Percentage 70.4 Swing 16.3%
Winning party by constituency.

General elections were held in Singapore on 2 September 1972. The result was a fourth victory for the People's Action Party, which won all 65 seats, the second of four consecutive elections in which they repeated the feat. Voter turnout was 93.5% in the 57 constituencies (which represented 812,926 voters) that were contested, with PAP candidates elected unopposed in the other eight, which represents 95,456 voters.

Electoral system

The 65 members of Parliament were elected in 65 single-member constituencies, an increase from 58 in the 1968 elections. Like the previous elections, boundaries and constituencies were carved due to development or population; the newly added constituencies were:

Constituency	Changes
New Constituencies
Boon Teck Kim Keat Kuo Chuan	Carved from Toa Payoh
Bukit Batok	Carved from Bukit Panjang, Bukit Timah and Choa Chu Kang
Henderson	Carved from Tiong Bahru
Kim Seng	Carved from Bukit Ho Swee and Delta
Leng Kee	Carved from Bukit Merah

Timeline

Date	Event
16 August	Dissolution of 2nd Parliament
23 August	Nomination Day
2 September	Polling Day
12 October	Opening of 3rd Parliament

Campaign

Unlike the previous elections in 1968, which saw the PAP returning to power after nomination day due to low number of contests (seven out of 58 seats), this election saw contests in all but eight seats. Barisan Sosialis renounced its boycott strategy and attempted to make a comeback, while the Workers' Party saw its rejuvenation with the introduction of its new secretary-general, also lawyer and former district judge, J. B. Jeyaretnam (who would later went to become the inaugural opposition Member of Parliament in 1981); former leader and ex-Chief Minister David Marshall contemplated standing as an independent, but ultimately did not run due to a stingray wound. PAP candidate and architect Ong Teng Cheong, who made his debut in the election, would later serve as a Deputy Prime Minister and also the first-elected (and fifth) President of Singapore.

Describing the alternative opposition parties as having lost their credibility with swerving political manoeuvres, coupled with Singapore's strong economic progress and successful housing development, the PAP declared that Singaporeans no longer saw need for political diversity, claiming that this led to squabbling that would impede its effective governance.

Results

Despite expectations that the PAP would not coast to victory and Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew even anticipating that the PAP winning around 45 seats would be a convincing victory, the PAP still managed to capture every seat in Parliament for the second time.

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
People's Action Party	524,892	70.4	65	+7
Workers' Party	90,885	12.2	0	0
United National Front	55,001	7.4	0	New
Barisan Sosialis	34,483	4.6	0	New
People's Front	22,462	3.0	0	New
Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	10,054	1.3	0	New
Independents	7,462	1.0	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	15,229	–	–	–
Total	760,468	100	65	+7
Registered voters/turnout	812,926	93.5	–	–
Source: Nohlen et al.