Anson by-election, 1981

The Anson by-election, 1981, was held in Singapore on 31 October 1981 to choose a representative for the constituency of Anson in Parliament. The by-election was won by the leader of the Workers' Party, J.B. Jeyaretnam, who defeated the candidate of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), Pang Kim Hin. The by-election marked the first occasion since Singapore's independence in which a PAP candidate was defeated in an election for a seat in Parliament.

Reason for the by-election

The by-election caused by incumbent MP Devan Nair stepping down as Anson's Member of Parliament in order to become President of Singapore (succeeding Benjamin Sheares, who had died on 12 May 1981).

Candidates

The Nomination Day for the by-election was 21 October 1981. The election deposit for candidates was set at $1500. Three candidates stood in the by-election: Pang Kim Hin of the PAP, J.B. Jeyaretnam of the Worker's Party and Harbans Singh of the United People's Front (UPF). The leader of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), Chiam See Tong, also considered standing in the by-election, but decided to withdraw at the last minute and leave Jeyaretnam to be the PAP's main opponent in the name of "opposition unity".

Result

By-election 1981: Anson

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	WP	J.B. Jeyaretnam	7,012	51.9	+51.9
	PAP	Pang Kim Hin	6,359	47.1	-37.0
	United People's Front	Harbans Singh	131	1.0	-14.9
Majority			653	4.8	N/A
Turnout			13,746	94.7	+0.3
	WP gain from PAP		Swing	N/A

Note: As Habans Singh of United People's Front failed to garner the minimum 12.5% (one-eighth) of the votes necessary to keep his deposit, his election deposit was forfeited.

Reasons for the PAP's defeat

A number of factors are thought to have contributed to ruling party's defeat in this by-election. One of them was the fact that he Pang a new face to the public in Singapore whereas Jeyaretnam was a veteran of several general elections and by-elections (though this was the first time he had stood in Anson). Another factor may have been that Pang did not make use of Anson's grassroots leaders during his campaign, upsetting some of them, and that he did not connect effectively with working-class people in the constituency. Another issue surrounding the campaign was that residents in the Blair Plain area of the constituency were unhappy that they were not being given priority for HDB flats when their homes were being demolished to make way for a new Port of Singapore Authority container complex, and some voters may have used the by-election as an opportunity to express discontent regarding this.

Historical significance

This is one of the most significant elections in Singapore's political history because it was the first opposition victory since the Barisan Sosialis had left Parliament in 1966. It was the third by-election to have been held in Anson.

The election marked the Workers' Party's return to Parliament after 18 years. The last time they won an election was back in 1961, when David Marshall also won a by-election in Anson as a candidate for the party (however he lost the seat in the 1963 general election).

Aftermath of the by-election

Jeyaretnam successfully retained the seat with a larger majority of 2,376 votes in the 1984 general election, when he defeated the PAP's Ng Pock Too. He captured 56.8% of the votes in the constituency in that election. Another opposition politician was also elected to Parliament at the 1984 general election - Chiam See Tong of the SDP, who was elected as the MP for Potong Pasir. Chiam would go on to represent the seat for a further 6 terms until 2011 and become Singapore's second longest-serving opposition MP.

However, Jeyaretnam was convicted for allegedly misreporting his party accounts and was forced to vacate the Anson seat in 1986. The constituency was abolished in 1988 and split between the Tanjong Pagar and Kreta Ayer constituency, with a significant of the portion also forming the Tiong Bahru Group Representation Constituency in 1988 election. Tiong Bahru was then absorbed into the Tanjong Pagar Group Representation constituency at the 1991 general election.

Although the PAP has remained the dominant party in Singapore politics, it has never again held a complete monopoly of all the seats in Parliament since the 1981 Anson by-election.

Past result, 1980

General Election 1980: Anson

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Devan Nair	11,564	84.1	-2.1
	United People's Front	P.M. Thevar	2,187	15.9	N/A
Majority			9,377	68.2
Turnout			14,224	94.3	+8.1
	PAP hold		Swing	-2.1

External links

• 1981 By Election
• Results of 1981 BE