2001 Singaporean general election

2001 Singaporean general election

3 November 2001

All 84 directly elected seats in Parliament (and up to 3 NCMPs)
Registered2,036,923
Turnout94.61% ( 1.30pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Goh Chok Tong Chiam See Tong Low Thia Khiang
Party PAP SDA WP
Leader's seat Marine Parade GRC Potong Pasir SMC Hougang SMC
Last election 64.98%, 81 seats 14.17%, 2 seats
Seats won 82 2 1
Seat change 1 New 1
Popular vote 470,765 75,248 19,060
Percentage 75.29% 12.03% 3.05%
Swing 10.31pp New 11.12pp

Results by constituency

Prime Minister before election

Goh Chok Tong
PAP

Prime Minister after election

Goh Chok Tong
PAP

General elections were held in Singapore on 3 November 2001 to elect members of Parliament. They were the eleventh general elections since the introduction of self-government in 1959 and the ninth since independence in 1965. The number of parliamentary seats increased from 83 to 84 following adjustments to electoral boundaries. With 55 seats won uncontested by the People's Action Party (PAP) on nomination day, the outcome of the elections was effectively determined before polling day for the third consecutive election.

The ruling PAP secured a landslide victory and retained its supermajority by winning all but two of the 84 parliamentary seats, while also increasing its popular vote share for the second consecutive election to 75.29%, its strongest showing since the 1980 election. The only opposition candidates elected were Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), who retained his seat in Potong Pasir SMC, and Low Thia Khiang of the Workers' Party (WP), who retained his seat in Hougang SMC. As the opposition secured two elected seats, one Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat was offered to Steve Chia of the SDA in Chua Chu Kang SMC, who was the best-performing losing opposition candidate. He accepted the seat.

This was Goh Chok Tong's last election as prime minister before he handed over to deputy prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is the son of Lee Kuan Yew, in 2004. Voter turnout in contested constituencies stood at 94.61%, slightly lower from the preceding general election. This election was the first in which the total eligible voter population exceeded 2 million, although only one third of them (675,306 of the 2,036,923 eligible voters) were able to vote due to the large number of walkovers. As of 2025, it remains the most recent general election in which the WP was not the leading opposition party represented in Parliament.