General elections were held in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
on 23 December 1976. The result was a victory for the
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...
, which won all 69 seats, the third of four consecutive elections in which they repeated the feat. Voter turnout was 95.1%, out of 857,297 voters eligible (from the total electorate of 1,095,817) from the 53 contested constituencies.
[Parliamentary general election 1976]
Singapore Elections
Electoral system
The 69 members of
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
were elected from
69 single-member constituencies, an increase from 65 used for the
previous elections in 1972. The
deposit was increased for the first time to
$1,200, up from $500.
[
]
Timeline
Constituencies
Similar to previous elections, constituencies were either dissolved or created due to population. Six constituencies were abolished and ten new ones created, which were reflected on the table:
Campaign
A total of 124 candidates contested the election. The ruling PAP was the only party to contest every one of 69 constituencies, while the five other opposition parties (namely Barisan Sosialis
Barisan Sosialis ( eng, Socialist Front) was a political party in Singapore. It was formed on 29 July 1961 and officially registered on 13 August 1961 by left-wing members of the People's Action Party (PAP) who had been expelled from the PAP. ...
, the Singapore Justice Party
The Singapore Justice Party (abbreviation: SJP) is a political party in Singapore.
Background
The party has been based mostly in Marine Parade district of Singapore since the party has taken part in general elections after 1988 by fielding its c ...
, PKMS, the United Front
A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...
and the Workers' Party) formed a Joint Opposition Council to cooperate at the polls. The Workers' Party nominated 22 candidates and United Front 14; no other party put forward more than six candidates, while two candidates ran as independents.
The election marked their political debut of two prominent candidates, independent Chiam See Tong
Chiam See Tong (; born 12 March 1935) is a Singaporean retired politician and lawyer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Potong Pasir SMC between 1984 and 2011. He was one of the two opposition MPs in Parliament.
Lawyer by profess ...
and PAP Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong (; born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1990 and 2004, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1992 and 2004. He was the Parliament of Singapore, ...
, who would become the then-longest-serving opposition MP and the second Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, respectively.Parliamentary general election 1976: Seats
Singapore Elections
Results
By constituency
Notes
References
{{Singaporean elections
General elections in Singapore
1976 in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...