LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY GENERAL ELECTIONS 1955

This first Legislative Assembly elections was held under the framework of the Rendel Constitution. Elected seats were 25, with the British appointing seven seats. PP, representing the English-speaking bourgeois and DP, the Mandarin-speaking bourgeois, fielded the largest number of candidates. To the chagrin of the British, who expected a PP victory and leader Tan Chye Ching to emerge Chief Minister, it was LF that won the largest number of seats. Forming a coalition with Alliance, LF leader David Marshall became Singapore's first Chief Minister. To help increase LF's majority, the British chose two LF members out of four nominated seats. PAP fielded a handful of candidates to protest against the Rendel Constitution, and became the main opposition party after capturing three seats and adding one more from a PAP-supported independent candidate who re-aligned himself to PAP.

Nomination day: 28 February 1955
Polling day: 2 April 1955

Total voters: 300,199
Total voter turnout: 158,075 (52.7%)

Election deposit: $500