MacPherson Single Member Constituency
| MacPherson | |
|---|---|
| Former single-member constituency for the Parliament of Singapore | |
 | |
| Region | Central Region, Singapore |
| Electorate | 28,513 |
| Former constituency | |
| Created | 1968 |
| Abolished | 2025 |
| Seats | 1 |
| Member | Constituency abolished |
| Town Council | Marine Parade |
| Reformed | 1997, 2015 |
| Reformed from | Marine Parade GRC |
| Merged | 1991, 2011, 2025 |
| Merged into | Marine Parade GRC (1991, 2011) Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC (2025) |
The MacPherson Single Member Constituency was a single-member constituency (SMC) in central Singapore. At abolition, it was managed by Marine Parade Town Council.
History
[edit]First existence (1968–1991)
[edit]MacPherson Constituency was created for the 1968 general election, with Chua Sian Chin from the governing People's Action Party (PAP) winning unopposed.[1] He would retain the constituency, both unopposed and against different opposition candidates,[2][3][4][5] until the 1991 general election, when it was abolished and merged into Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC).[6]
In 1988, the constituency was renamed MacPherson Single Member Constituency with the creation of GRCs.[7]
Second existence (1997–2011)
[edit]In 1994, Chee Soon Juan, the leader of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), challenged Matthias Yao, the incumbent PAP Member of Parliament (MP) for the MacPherson division of Marine Parade GRC, to an SMC contest amid an antagonistic exchange of letters between the two in The Straits Times regarding Chee's integrity. MacPherson SMC was thus reformed for the 1997 general election.[8]
In the election, Yao won 65.14% of the vote.[9] He would retain the SMC until the 2011 general election, when it was merged again into Marine Parade GRC.[10][11][12]
Third existence (2015–2025)
[edit]For the 2015 general election, the National Solidarity Party (NSP), which had contested Marine Parade GRC in 2011, initially planned to field a candidate against the PAP in MacPherson SMC, but decided to pull out of the contest when the Workers' Party (WP) announced its desire to contest in the constituency.[12] The NSP later backtracked and fielded Steve Chia in the constituency, but Chia quit citing online abuse over his participation.[12] As a result, the party fielded Cheo Chai Chen.[12] Hazel Poa, then the acting secretary-general of the NSP, resigned from the party, stating that she opposed the decision of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) to contest the SMC.[13]
During the election campaign, Cheo drew considerable criticism for telling reporters that PAP candidate Tin Pei Ling's status as a new mother was "her weakness" and saying that it was possible that she would spend more time on her child than on her constituents.[14] He later claimed that he was joking.[15] Tin, the incumbent MP for the MacPherson division of Marine Parade GRC, won the election with 65.58% of the vote; Bernard Chen from the WP received 33.6% and Cheo received 0.82%.[16] For not winning at least 12.5% of the vote, Cheo forfeited his election deposit of S$14,500.[17]
During the 2020 general election, Tin retained MacPherson SMC with an improved 71.74% of the vote against Goh Meng Seng, the founder and leader of the People's Power Party (PPP). This was despite a national swing against the PAP.[16]
For the 2025 general election, the SMC was abolished and merged into Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC.[18]
Members of Parliament
[edit]| Election | Member | Party | |
| Formation | |||
| 1968 | Chua Sian Chin | PAP | |
| 1972 | |||
| 1976 | |||
| 1980 | |||
| 1984 | |||
| 1988 | |||
| Constituency abolished (1991 – 1997) | |||
| 1997 | Matthias Yao | PAP | |
| 2001 | |||
| 2006 | |||
| Constituency abolished (2011 – 2015) | |||
| 2015 | Tin Pei Ling | PAP | |
| 2020 | |||
| Constituency abolished (2025) | |||
Electoral results
[edit]Note : Elections Department Singapore do not include rejected votes for calculation of candidate's vote share. Hence, the total of all candidates' vote share will be 100%.
Elections in 1960s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Chua Sian Chin | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 13,099 | ||||
| PAP win (new seat) | |||||
Elections in 1970s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Chua Sian Chin | 10,117 | 68.76 | N/A | |
| WP | Lee Tow Kiat | 4,597 | 31.24 | N/A | |
| Majority | 5,520 | 37.52 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 15,637 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 14,714 | 98.41 | |||
| Rejected ballots | 238 | 1.59 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 14,952 | 95.62 | N/A | ||
| PAP hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Chua Sian Chin | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 18,716 | ||||
| PAP hold | |||||
Elections in 1980s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Chua Sian Chin | 15,280 | 86.89 | N/A | |
| United People's Front | Darus bin Shariff | 2,306 | 13.11 | N/A | |
| Majority | 12,974 | 73.78 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 18,997 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 17,586 | 97.18 | |||
| Rejected ballots | 510 | 2.82 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 18,096 | 95.26 | N/A | ||
| PAP hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Chua Sian Chin | Unopposed | |||
| Registered electors | 19,500 | ||||
| PAP hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Chua Sian Chin | 10,453 | 65.98 | ||
| NSP | Kum Teng Hock | 5,390 | 34.02 | ||
| Majority | 5,063 | 31.96 | |||
| Registered electors | 17,063 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 15,843 | 97.81 | |||
| Rejected ballots | 354 | 2.19 | |||
| Turnout | 16,197 | 94.92 | |||
| PAP hold | Swing |  2.78
|
|||
Elections in 1990s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Matthias Yao | 12,546 | 65.14 | ||
| SDP | Chee Soon Juan | 6,713 | 34.86 | ||
| Majority | 5,833 | 30.28 | |||
| Registered electors | 20,734 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 19,259 | 97.17 | |||
| Rejected ballots | 561 | 2.83 | |||
| Turnout | 19,820 | 95.59 | |||
| PAP win (new seat) | |||||
Elections in 2000s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Matthias Yao | 16,870 | 83.73 |  18.59
| |
| DPP | Tan Soo Phuan | 3,277 | 16.27 | N/A | |
| Majority | 13,593 | 67.46 | 37.18
| ||
| Registered electors | 22,010 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 20,147 | 97.22 | 0.05
| ||
| Rejected ballots | 577 | 2.78 | 0.05
| ||
| Turnout | 20,724 | 94.16 | 1.43
| ||
| PAP hold | Swing | 18.59
|
|||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Matthias Yao | 13,184 | 68.48 | 15.25
| |
| SDA | Sin Kek Tong | 6,067 | 31.52 | N/A | |
| Majority | 7,117 | 36.96 | 30.50
| ||
| Registered electors | 21,041 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 19,251 | ||||
| Rejected ballots | 544 | 2.75 | 0.03
| ||
| Turnout | 19,795 | 94.08 | 0.08
| ||
| PAP hold | Swing | 15.25
|
|||
Elections in 2010s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Tin Pei Ling | 17,227 | 65.58 | ||
| WP | Bernard Chen | 8,826 | 33.60 | ||
| NSP | Cheo Chai Chen | 215 | 0.82 | ||
| Majority | 8,401 | 31.98 | |||
| Registered electors | 28,511 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 26,268 | 98.44 | |||
| Rejected ballots | 415 | 1.56 | |||
| Turnout | 26,683 | 93.59 | |||
| PAP win (new seat) | |||||
Elections in 2020s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAP | Tin Pei Ling | 19,009 | 71.74 | 6.16
| |
| PPP | Goh Meng Seng | 7,489 | 28.26 | N/A | |
| Majority | 11,520 | 43.48 | 11.50
| ||
| Total valid votes | 26,498 | 97.70 | 0.74
| ||
| Rejected ballots | 625 | 2.30 | 0.74
| ||
| Turnout | 27,123 | 95.13 | 1.54
| ||
| Registered electors | 28,513 | 6.86
| |||
| PAP hold | Swing | 6.16
|
|||
References
[edit]- ^ "ELD | 1968 Parliamentary General Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ^ "ELD | 1972 Parliamentary General Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ^ "ELD | 1976 Parliamentary General Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ^ "ELD | 1980 Parliamentary General Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ^ "MacPherson". The Straits Times. 4 September 1988. Retrieved 4 October 2025 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ "Five town councils dissolved, 2 formed". The Straits Times. 8 September 1991. Retrieved 4 October 2025 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ "13 GRCs for next general election". The Straits Times. 15 June 1988. Retrieved 4 October 2025 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ "Yao to Chee: Don't run from people's judgment". The Straits Times. 18 December 1996. Retrieved 4 October 2025 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ "ELD | 1997 Parliamentary General Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "ELD | 2001 Parliamentary General Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ^ "ELD | 2006 Parliamentary General Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ^ a b c d Suparto, Idayu; Ho, Olivia (4 September 2015). "GE2015: NSP's Cheo Chai Chen slams WP as arrogant, expresses concern about its alleged financial lapses". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 20 March 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
- ^ "Hazel Poa quits NSP abruptly over party's decision to contest in MacPherson". The Business Times. 20 August 2015. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "Tin Pei Ling's new status as a mum is a weakness: Cheo". Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ "Tin Pei Ling delivered the best possible smackdown to NSP's Cheo Chai Chen's sexist and ageist remarks". mothership.sg. Archived from the original on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ a b "PAP Sees 27% Dip In West Coast GRC, But MacPherson SMC Turning Into Stronghold". Must Share News. 11 July 2020. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ^ "Singapore Parliamentary General Election 2015". sg-elections.com. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ^ "Marine Parade GRC to absorb MacPherson SMC, cede parts of Chai Chee, Siglap". The Straits Times. 11 March 2025. ISSN 0585-3923. Archived from the original on 17 September 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
