Singaporean general election, 1959

General elections were held in Singapore on 30 May 1959. They were held under the new constitution and the first in which all 51 seats in the Legislative Assembly were elected. This was the first election victory for the People's Action Party (PAP), as they won a landslide victory with 43 seats, and the party has since remained in power after the elections.

Background

David Marshall, the politician who led the ruling Labour Front after winning the previous general election in 1955, was vocally anti-British and anti-colonialist, and the British found it difficult to come to an agreement or a compromise about a plan for self-government; Marshall resigned from the party a year later, pledging that he would either achieve self-government or to resign. In his place, Lim Yew Hock pursued an aggressive anti-communist campaign and manage to convince the British to make a definite plan for self-government.

The Constitution of Singapore was revised accordingly in 1958, replacing the Rendel Constitution with one that granted Singapore self-government and the ability for its own population to fully elect its Legislative Assembly. Previously under the Rendel Constitution, drawn up in 1955 by a commission led by George William Rendel, the Legislative Assembly and its leaders could not fully be determined by the population; the British government appointed seven of the 32 members, with the remaining 25 seats elected by the public, albeit with limited suffrage. This itself was an improvement from the pre-1955 Legislative Council, electing nine members to the council.

This election was the first election after its full internal self-government granted by the British authorities; Singapore was now a recognised state, but was yet to gain full independence since the British still have external affairs such as the military and foreign relations. Due to the removal of suffrage restrictions, voting was implemented to be compulsory for the first time, and had done so in every election since 1959.

Electoral system

The 51 seats of the Legislative Assembly were elected from single-member constituencies.

The assembly dissolved on 31 March 1959; candidates were nominated on 25 April, and the electorates go to the polls on 30 May.

Constituencies

Constituency	Party	Voters
Bukit Panjang	People's Action Party	11,984
Bukit Timah	People's Action Party	18,461
Cairnhill	People's Action Party	12,239
Changi	People's Action Party	21,537
Farrer Park	People's Action Party	20,388
Geylang East	People's Action Party	15,562
Geylang West	People's Action Party	15,570
Havelock	People's Action Party	30,863
Jalan Besar	People's Action Party	13,877
Kampong Kapor	People's Action Party	12,736
Katong	Singapore's People Alliance	19,979
Mountbatten	Singapore's People Alliance	10,212
Pasir Panjang	People's Action Party	19,833
Paya Lebar	People's Action Party	25,344
Punggol-Tampines	People's Action Party	15,885
Queenstown	People's Action Party	10,634
Rochore	People's Action Party	24,467
Seletar	People's Action Party	14,387
Sembawang	People's Action Party	11,560
Serangoon	People's Action Party	19,634
Southern Islands	United Malays National Organisation	5,325
Stamford	People's Action Party	23,585
Tanglin	Singapore's People Alliance	27,464
Tanjong Pagar	People's Action Party	21,860
Telok Ayer	People's Action Party	40,838
Tiong Bahru	People's Action Party	22,498
Ulu Bedok	United Malays National Organisation	32,930
Whampoa	People's Action Party	25,490