1948 Singaporean general election

General elections were held for the first time in Singapore on 20 March 1948,[1] when six of the 22 seats on the Legislative Council became directly-elected. Voting was not compulsory and was restricted to British subjects, who constituted around 2% of the 940,000 population. Although various organisations called for a boycott of the elections, voter turnout was 63.1%.

1948 Singaporean general election

20 March 1948

6 (of the 22) seats to the Legislative Council
Turnout63.1%
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Tan Chye Cheng
Party Independent PP
Leader since 1945
Leader's seat Municipal South-West
Seats won 3 3
Popular vote 11,997 11,754
Percentage 50.5% 49.5%

Results by constituency

The Progressive Party (PP) was the only contesting party, winning three of the six elected seats.

Background

The election was announced on 1 February, and nominations were due by 15 February. The campaign period lasted for 31 days.

Electoral system

Of the 22 seats in the Legislative Council, six were elected, three nominated by commercial organisations (the Singapore Chamber of Commerce, Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Indian Chamber of Commerce), and thirteen appointed by the British authorities; these included the Governor, Colonial Secretary, Financial Secretary, Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, two Directors, two ex officio Commissioners and four non-officio ones.

The six elected seats were elected from four constituencies; two two-seat constituencies and two single-member constituencies. Parties had no fixed standard symbol and candidates had to ballot for one offered by the elections office.

Results

Party Votes % Seats
Progressive Party11,75449.53
Independents11,99750.53
Invalid/blank votes1,321
Total25,0721006
Total ballots cast14,126100
Registered voters/turnout22,33463.2
Source: Singapore Elections

By constituency

Constituency Seats Electorate Turnout % Party Candidate Votes %
Municipal North-East 2 8,668 5,796 66.9 Independent Mohamed Javad Namazie 2,672 24.4
Progressive Party Christopher John Laycock 2,221 20.3
Independent M. K. Chidambaram 1,622 14.8
Independent Charles Joseph Pemberton Paglar 1,420 13.0
Independent Richard Lim Chuan Hoe 1,161 10.6
Independent Valiya Purayil Abdullah 944 8.6
Progressive Party Lim Chuan Geok 892 8.2
Municipal South-West 2 8,800 5,150 58.5 Progressive Party Tan Chye Cheng 4,125 42.3
Progressive Party Nazir Ahmad Mallal 4,056 41.6
Independent Mirza Abdul Majid 1,572 16.1
Rural East 1 2,092 1,144 54.7 Independent Sardon bin Jubir 607 54.9
Independent Cheong Hock Chye 498 45.1
Rural West 1 2,774 2,774 73.4 Independent Srish Chandra Goho 981 50.0
Independent Malathi Pillai 520 26.5
Progressive Party Arumugam Ponnu Rajah 460 23.5
Singapore Chamber of Commerce 1 75 No election Singapore Chamber of Commerce Ewen MacGregor Field Fergusson Uncontested
Chinese Chamber of Commerce 1 50 No election Chinese Chamber of Commerce Tan Chin Tuan Uncontested
Indian Chamber of Commerce 1 No election Indian Chamber of Commerce Rajabali Jumabhoy Uncontested
Source: Singapore Elections

See also

References

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