1970 Singaporean by-elections

By-elections were held for five seats in the Parliament of Singapore in April 1970, resulting from the resignation of representatives of the People's Action Party (PAP). The PAP easily held all five seats; in three of them there was no opposition.

Background

At the time of the 1968 general election, mass resignations by the members of Barisan Sosialis in the parliament, who opted to protest and "struggle for democracy" on the streets, had effectively removed all opposition from the parliament. In 1970, however, it was five members from the governing People's Action Party who were invited to resign and give way to new blood as a part of renewing PAP's ranks.

The resulting vacancies were in the constituencies of Delta, Havelock, Kampong Kapor, Ulu Pandan and Whampoa. By-elections were arranged, with nomination day set as 8 April 1970 and polling day as 18 April 1970.

Similar to 1968 general election, no opposition parties stood except a newly formed United National Front formed from remnants of the defunct Singapore Alliance. This party stood candidates in two seats out of the five, namely Kampong Kapor and Ulu Pandan. Once again the PAP won the other three by walkovers.

Election deposit

The election deposit was set at $500. Similar to previous elections, the election deposit would be forfeited if the particular candidate had failed to secure at least 12.5% or one-eighth of the votes.

Results

By-election 1970: Delta

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Yeo Choo Kok	Walkover
Majority
Turnout			19,031
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

By-election 1970: Havelock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Hon Sui Sen	Walkover
Majority
Turnout			11,498
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

By-election 1970: Kampong Kapor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Yeo Toon Chia	5,527	62.4	N/A
	United National Front	Chng Boon Eng	3,330	37.6	N/A
Majority			2,197	24.8	N/A
Turnout			9,195	83.7	N/A
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

By-election 1970: Ulu Pandan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Chiang Hai Ding	9,018	75.5	N/A
	United National Front	Vetrivelu Rengaswamy	2,925	24.5	N/A
Majority			6,093	51.0	N/A
Turnout			12,355	86.3	N/A
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

By-election 1970: Whampoa

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Augustine Tan Hui Heng	Walkover
Majority
Turnout			13,286
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

References

• Background of 1970 By Election
• 1970 By Elections Result