The term of City Councillors elected in the 1950 Municipal Election had ended, with three - one from PP - running for another term. A former PP and independent Councillor, S. S. Manyam, rejoined LP - a party he helped form - and was running under its ticket. Two other independent and former LP Councillors in South ward, S. Jaganathan and M. P. D. Nair, returned to LP's fold, with the latter retiring. In City ward, opponent of independent Councillor J. M. Jumabhoy, PP candidate Mrs Mary Lobo, was not eligible to contest due to her missing name in the register, triggering the only walkover in municipal elections and the second one in history. Another retiring Councillor was S. A. Mohamed Ali (Rochore), elected as independent and joined PP but became independent again the year before stepping down. Former members of LP who founded the Democratic Labour Party - the prelude to LF - contested as "Independent-Labour" candidates. Debuting in city elections was UMNO-MCA, the first time a third party entered the fray, which came into an alliance in conjunction with their Malayan counterparts. PP continued to maintain its simple majority for the fourth time in a row. After this, there was no CC election until 1957 and the terms of all incumbent Councillors were extended while the Rendel Commission and another two committees, including the McNeice Commission, delayed the completion of reviewing of Singapore's national and local governance. In May 1954, it was officially confirmed that city elections for the year would be postponed indefinitely. Politicians lobbied for a December 1955 dateline but the constitutional hangover lasted longer than expected.

Nomination day: 4 November 1953 [Wed]
Polling day: 5 December 1953 [Sat]

Registered voters: 50,238
Voters in walkover wards: 6,700 (13.3%)
Total voters: 43,538 (86.7%)
Total voter turnout: 21,527 (50.3%)

Election deposit: $250