The prime minister of Singapore, is the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. The president appoints the prime minister on the

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in List of enacting formulae, enacting formulae of bill (proposed law), bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive ...

of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent prime minister is

Lawrence Wong Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai. In this Chinese name, the Chinese surname, family name is Huang (surname), Wong. In accordance with custom, the Western-style name is Lawrence Wong and the Chinese-style name is Wong Shyun Tsai. (born 18 December 197 ...

, who took office on 15 May 2024. Singapore is modelled after the

Westminster system The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary system, parliamentary government that incorporates a series of Parliamentary procedure, procedures for operating a legislature, first developed in England. Key aspects of ...

. The prime minister only governs with the confidence of the majority in

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 ...

; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a member of Parliament (MP) and leads the largest party or a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

of parties. In practice, the prime minister is the leader of the majority party in Parliament.

History

The office of prime minister succeeded the office of

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

in 1959 after Singapore had attained

self-governance Self-governance, self-government, self-sovereignty or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority (sociology), authority. It may refer to pers ...

from the United Kingdom, as the State of Singapore, with

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

being sworn in as the first prime minister on 5 June 1959. Concerning Singapore's autonomous status in the Malaysia Agreement, the title of prime minister remained unchanged after Singapore's

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

with Malaya,

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

and North Borneo to form

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in 1963, despite the existence of the prime minister of Malaysia for the entire federation of which Singapore was briefly a part. Following the independence of Singapore in 1965, the office of Prime Minister was retained, with the

president of Singapore The president of the Republic of Singapore, is the head of state of Singapore. The president represents the country in official diplomatic functions and possesses certain executive powers over the government of Singapore, including the contro ...

becoming a ceremonial head of state. In 1991, amendments to the

Constitution of Singapore The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore is the supreme law of Singapore. A written constitution, the text which took effect on 9 August 1965 is derived from the Constitution of the State of Singapore 1963, provisions of the Constitution ...

vested executive powers in the presidency, along with discretionary veto powers over the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. The Constitution also vests "general direction and control of the government" in the Cabinet, with the president almost always bound to act on the advice of the Cabinet or any minister acting under the Cabinet authority. Thus, in practice, most of the actual work of governing is done by the prime minister and Cabinet. Under Article 26(4)(a) of the

, the prime minister may appoint a Cabinet minister, subject to presidential approval, as acting prime minister if the prime minister is on medical leave, away from Singapore or is granted a leave of absence under Article 32 of the Constitution. The deputy prime minister or senior minister will usually become the acting prime minister. Still, any Cabinet minister may be appointed to the role.

Authority

Under the Constitution, executive power is nominally vested in the president. However, the president can only exercise that authority on the advice of the Cabinet or a minister acting under general Cabinet authority. Hence, in practice, the prime minister, as the Cabinet's leader, does most of the actual work of governing. The prime minister is responsible for overseeing the government's day-to-day affairs and executing government policy. As leader of the majority party in Parliament, the prime minister is also responsible for passing legislation through Parliament. The prime minister also nominates the speaker of Parliament and leader of the house, who are responsible for arranging government business and organising legislative programmes, usually under the directive of the prime minister and the Cabinet. The prime minister chooses the other members of the Cabinet by advising the president; the president must exercise their powers in accordance with the advice of the prime minister. The prime minister may change, retain, or revoke any sitting minister's appointment under their prerogative. The prime minister also advises the president on appointments, such as Attorney-General, and

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

of a ministry. The prime minister can advise the president to make a Proclamation of Emergency; the president issues the Proclamation if satisfied. The prime minister can declare a defence or security measure, and has executive authority over the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...

(SAF) through the Armed Forces Council, which consists of Minister for Defence, Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), Chief of Defence Force, Chief of Army, Chief of Air Force and Chief of Navy; all of whom are appointed by the president under the prime minister's advice.

Privileges

Sri Temasek is the prime minister's official residence, though none of the prime ministers have ever lived there. The Istana is the working office of the prime minister. Since 2024 however, Sri Temasek has been the working office of the Prime Minister due to the ongoing renovations at The Istana, as confirmed by Lawrence Wong in his National Day Address. The prime minister is protected by the Specialised Security Command of the

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal Police, law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; hum ...

(SPF), who also ensure the protection of the president, Cabinet ministers, and visiting foreign dignitaries. The annual salary package the prime minister would receive, including the 13th-month bonus, Annual Variable Component, and National Bonus, which is twice the MR4 benchmark, stands at . As there is no one to decide on the annual performance bonus for the prime minister, the prime minister's bonus will be based only on the National Bonus. The prime minister is also on the Medisave-cum-Subsidised Outpatient (MSO) scheme—where an additional 2% of their gross monthly salary will be credited into their Medisave account. The prime minister's annual salary was before a salary review in 2011. On 21 May 2011, a committee was set by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, to review the salaries of the prime minister as well as the president, ministers, members of Parliament and other political officeholders. After the recommended wage reductions by the committee were accepted in Parliament, the prime minister's salary was reduced by 36%—including the removal of his pension to or approximately at that time. Nonetheless, Singapore's prime minister remains the world's highest-paid political leader.

List of prime ministers of Singapore

; Political parties

Timeline

References

External links

Prime Minister's Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prime Minister Of Singapore Lists of political office-holders in Singapore

1959 establishments in Singapore