# 1968 Singaporean general election

General elections were held in Singapore on 13 April 1968, the first as a sovereign country after its independence three years prior. The People's Action Party (PAP) won in a landslide, winning all 58 seats at the time, including 51 uncontested constituencies. The PAP would end up occupying all seats in Parliament until 1981.

## Background

Following the resignations of eleven MPs from Barisan Sosialis (BS, Socialist Front) and two other BS MPs leaving Singapore in protest against independence, five by-elections were held within three years but PAP were successful in winning all the seats, resulting in complete supermajority control of Parliament by the PAP.

### Campaign

BS boycotted the elections on the grounds that Singapore's independence was "phoney" and several opposition parties heeded its call. The leaders of Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (formerly the local branch of the UMNO), Ahmad Haji Taff, and the Singapore Chinese Party (formerly the local branch of the MCA), Chng Boon Eng, turned up but did not file their nominations.
The election saw several precedents: the ruling PAP returned to power during nomination day (which would not be repeated again until 1991), as only seven seats were contested, the fewest seats contested in any general election, with all seven of them being a straight contest (a similar situation would not occur again until 2006). The PAP winning every seats became a recurring theme until 1984. Walkovers also became a perpetual feature in every succeeding general election until 2015. It was the last general election in which the campaign period lasted for two months; for later elections it was restricted to 9–10 days.

## Timeline

| Date | Event |
| 8 February | Dissolution of 1st Parliament |
| 17 February | Nomination Day |
| 13 April | Polling day |
| 6 May | Opening of 2nd Parliament |

## Electoral system

The 58 members of Parliament were elected in 58 single-member constituencies, an increase from 51 in the 1963 elections. The constituencies introduced or removed in the election, as well as constituencies with changes of boundaries, are shown on the table:
| Constituency | Changes |
| New Constituencies ||
| Alexandra | Carved out from Queenstown constituency |
| Bukit Ho Swee | Carved out from Delta constituency |
| Kampong Chai Chee | Carved out from Kampong Kembangan, Siglap and Tampines constituencies |
| Kampong Ubi | Carved out from Geylang Serai constituency |
| Katong | Carved out from Mountbatten constituency |
| MacPherson Potong Pasir | Carved out from Aljunied constituency |
| Whampoa | Carved out from Kallang constituency |
| Defunct Constituencies ||
| Southern Islands | Absorbed to Jurong, Pasir Panjang and Telok Blangah constituencies |

## Results

| | People's Action Party | 65,812 | 86.72 | +39.79 | 58 | +21 |
| | Workers' Party | 3,049 | 4.02 | +3.97 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | 7,033 | 9.27 | +8.10 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 75,894 | 100.00 | – | 58 | +7 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 75,894 | 97.36 | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 2,058 | 2.64 | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 77,952 | 100.00 | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 759,367 | 91.83 | | | |
| Source: Nohlen et al., Singapore Elections |||||||

### By constituency

Out of the seven seats contested (all by only two candidates), three had winning margins of over 75%, with the losers forfeiting their deposit. The result for Tanjong Pagar (94% to 6%) remains the biggest winning margin and percentage obtained to date.
| Constituency | Electorate | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Alexandra | 13,317 | People's Action Party | Wong Lin Ken | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Aljunied | 14,472 | People's Action Party | Mohamad Ghazali bin Ismail | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Anson | 8,764 | People's Action Party | Perumal Govindaswamy | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Bras Basah | 9,718 | People's Action Party | Ho See Beng | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Bukit Ho Swee | 17,735 | People's Action Party | Seah Mui Kok | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Bukit Merah | 19,319 | People's Action Party | Lim Guan Hoo | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Bukit Panjang | 17,893 | People's Action Party | Pathmanaban Selvadurai | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Bukit Timah | 16,769 | People's Action Party | Chor Yeok Eng | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Cairnhill | 12,287 | People's Action Party | Lim Kim San | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Changi | 15,594 | People's Action Party | Sim Boon Woo | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Chua Chu Kang | 12,879 | People's Action Party | Tang See Chim | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Crawford | 7,190 | People's Action Party | Low Yong Nguan | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Delta | 17,715 | People's Action Party | Chan Choy Siong | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Farrer Park | 10,290 | People's Action Party | Lee Chiaw Meng | 7,826 | 84.91 |
| Farrer Park | 10,290 | Independent | Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair | 1,391 | 15.09 |
| Geylang East | 16,185 | People's Action Party | Ho Cheng Choon | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Geylang Serai | 12,741 | People's Action Party | Rahmat bin Kenap | 9,363 | 83.01 |
| Geylang Serai | 12,741 | Independent | Darus bin Shariff | 1,916 | 16.99 |
| Geylang West | 14,609 | People's Action Party | Yong Nyuk Lin | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Havelock | 11,049 | People's Action Party | Lim Soo Peng | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Hong Lim | 10,388 | People's Action Party | Lee Khoon Choy | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Jalan Besar | 11,400 | People's Action Party | Chan Chee Seng | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Jalan Kayu | 12,878 | People's Action Party | Hwang Soo Jin | 9,581 | 82.30 |
| Jalan Kayu | 12,878 | Workers' Party | Sum Chong Meng | 2,060 | 17.70 |
| Joo Chiat | 12,335 | People's Action Party | Yeoh Ghim Seng | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Jurong | 11,445 | People's Action Party | Ho Kah Leong | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Kallang | 9,309 | People's Action Party | Abdul Aziz bin Karim | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Kampong Chai Chee | 17,636 | People's Action Party | Sha'ari bin Tadin | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Kampong Glam | 9,484 | People's Action Party | S. Rajaratnam | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Kampong Kapor | 10,818 | People's Action Party | Lim Cheng Lock | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Kampong Kembangan | 15,862 | People's Action Party | Mohamed Ariff bin Suradi | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Kampong Ubi | 13,434 | People's Action Party | Ya'acob bin Mohamed | 9,797 | 81.87 |
| Kampong Ubi | 13,434 | Independent | Tay Mook Yong | 2,169 | 18.13 |
| Katong | 14,872 | People's Action Party | Joseph Francis De Conceicao | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Kreta Ayer | 11,575 | People's Action Party | Goh Keng Swee | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| MacPherson | 13,099 | People's Action Party | Chua Sian Chin | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Moulmein | 11,888 | People's Action Party | Lawrence Sia | 9,675 | 90.56 |
| Moulmein | 11,888 | Independent | T. T. Joseph | 1,009 | 9.44 |
| Mountbatten | 12,760 | People's Action Party | Ng Yeow Chong | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Nee Soon | 12,846 | People's Action Party | Ong Soo Chuan | 10,442 | 91.35 |
| Nee Soon | 12,846 | Workers' Party | Wong Hong Toy | 989 | 8.65 |
| Pasir Panjang | 12,394 | People's Action Party | Othman Wok | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Paya Lebar | 17,573 | People's Action Party | Tay Boon Too | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Potong Pasir | 11,782 | People's Action Party | Sellappa Ramaswamy | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Punggol | 12,277 | People's Action Party | Ng Kah Ting | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Queenstown | 16,193 | People's Action Party | Jek Yeun Thong | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| River Valley | 10,865 | People's Action Party | Low Guan Onn | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Rochore | 12,222 | People's Action Party | Toh Chin Chye | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Sembawang | 11,220 | People's Action Party | Teong Eng Siong | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Sepoy Lines | 11,409 | People's Action Party | Wee Toon Boon | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Serangoon Gardens | 9,454 | People's Action Party | Leonard Peter Rodrigo | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Siglap | 11,627 | People's Action Party | Abdul Rahim Ishak | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Stamford | 9,919 | People's Action Party | Fong Sip Chee | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Tampines | 12,703 | People's Action Party | Phua Bah Lee | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Tanglin | 13,332 | People's Action Party | E. W. Barker | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Tanjong Pagar | 10,806 | People's Action Party | Lee Kuan Yew | 9,128 | 94.34 |
| Tanjong Pagar | 10,806 | Independent | Rengaswamy Vetrivelu | 548 | 5.66 |
| Telok Ayer | 11,721 | People's Action Party | Ong Pang Boon | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Telok Blangah | 14,785 | People's Action Party | N. Naidu Govindasamy | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Thomson | 15,911 | People's Action Party | Ang Nam Piau | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Tiong Bahru | 16,532 | People's Action Party | Ch'ng Jit Koon | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Toa Payoh | 19,143 | People's Action Party | Eric Cheong Yuen Chee | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Ulu Pandan | 13,289 | People's Action Party | Lee Teck Him | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Upper Serangoon | 13,373 | People's Action Party | Sia Kah Hui | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Whampoa | 12,854 | People's Action Party | Buang bin Omar Junid | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Source: ELD |||||||