2011 Singaporean general election

2011 Singaporean general election

7 May 2011 (2011-05-07)

All 87 directly elected seats in Parliament (and up to 9 NCMPs)
Registered2,350,873
Turnout93.18% ( 0.82pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Lee Hsien Loong Low Thia Khiang Chiam See Tong
Party PAP WP SPP
Leader's seat Ang Mo Kio GRC Hougang SMC
(won in Aljunied GRC)
Potong Pasir SMC
(defeated in Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC)
Last election 66.60%, 82 seats 16.50%, 2 seats 12.96%, 1 seat
Seats won 81 8 1
Seat change 1 6
Popular vote 1,212,154 258,510 62,639
Percentage 60.14% 12.83% 3.11%
Swing 6.46pp 3.67pp 9.85pp

Results by constituency

Prime Minister before election

Lee Hsien Loong
PAP

Prime Minister after election

Lee Hsien Loong
PAP

General elections were held in Singapore on 7 May 2011 to elect members of Parliament. They were the thirteenth general elections since the introduction of self-government in 1959 and the eleventh since independence in 1965. President S.R. Nathan dissolved parliament on 19 April on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong three weeks before the election. The number of elected seats was increased from 84 to 87 from the previous election. This was the second election contested by Lee as prime minister.

The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) achieved a landslide victory in the election, retaining its supermajority. Nevertheless, the election saw historic gains for the opposition in Singapore's political landscape. For the second consecutive election, the PAP did not return to government on nomination day. It also marked the first and only three-cornered contest since 2001, which was held at Punggol East Single Member Constituency (SMC). Described as a "watershed" election, it saw the highest proportion of contested seats since independence, excluding the five seats in Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC). This election also marked Lee Kuan Yew's final election before his death in 2015.

Key issues in the elections included immigration, the cost of living and housing. The PAP's share of the popular vote fell further to 60.14 percent, its lowest since independence. The Workers' Party (WP) won Aljunied GRC, securing five additional elected MPs and making history as the first opposition party to capture a GRC since the scheme's introduction in 1988. Three non-constituency seats (NCMPs) were also awarded, one to the Singapore People's Party (SPP) and two to the WP, bringing the total number of opposition MPs to nine. The electorate surpassed two million for the first time, making the 2011 general election the most actively contested in Singapore's history at the time since its first post-independence election in 1968.