1980 Singaporean general election

In the years preceding the election, two rounds of by-elections were held in 1977 and 1979, following the vacating of two and seven seats respectively. The People's Action Party (PAP) won all of these contests, enabling nine new members to enter Parliament, including Devan Nair and Tony Tan, both of whom would later become Presidents of Singapore.

On 2 April, Phey Yew Kok, then-President of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), resigned his Boon Teck seat after being charged with misappropriation of trade union funds. He subsequently absconded to Thailand to evade bail, and no by-election was called as the parliamentary term was nearing its end. Phey remained a fugitive for 35 years before surrendering at the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok in 2015.^[2] Against this backdrop, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) was formally established on 8 September by independent candidate Chiam See Tong, who had contested at Cairnhill in 1976 and at Potong Pasir as part of the 1979 by-elections.^[3]

There were 12 PAP MPs who left politics in this election, including the more prominent figures Lim Kim San and Othman Wok.

There were 38 new candidates in this election (18 were from the PAP), which include future ministers Lee Yock Suan, Lim Boon Heng, Tay Eng Soon, S. Jayakumar and Yeo Ning Hong, alongside prominent backbencher Tan Cheng Bock, who would later emerge as a candidate in the 2011 Singaporean presidential election and one of the founders of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) in 2019.

A total of 43 opposition candidates contested 38 constituencies, representing roughly half of the available seats, with the United People's Front fielding the largest number at 14. This election was the first instance, and one of only three in Singapore's history, with the others being the 2006 and 2011, in which no candidates stood as independents. Key issues during the campaign included the school streaming system and the fraud involving Phey Yew Kok, both of which attracted significant public attention.^[4]

Similar to previous elections, constituencies were either dissolved or created due to population changes. The constituencies which saw changes were as follows:^[10][11]

The result for Lee Kuan Yew's seat of Tanjong Pagar recorded the highest vote share for the fourth consecutive election, achieving 92.74%, its peak since 1968 when it reached 94.34%. Opposition leaders from the Workers' Party (WP) and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), J. B. Jeyaretnam and Chiam See Tong, who contested Telok Blangah and Potong Pasir respectively, recorded the two narrowest winning margins for the governing PAP, 53.02% to 46.98% and 59.05% to 40.95%. Eight candidates forfeited their $1,500 election deposits, the highest number since 1972. At Kebun Baru and Tanjong Pagar, all opposing candidates lost their deposits in multi-cornered contests, a feat that would not be repeated until 2025.^[12]

More information Party, Votes ...

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	People's Action Party	494,268	77.66	+3.57	75	+6
	Workers' Party	39,590	6.22	–5.33	0	0
	United People's Front	28,586	4.49	+2.70	0	0
	United Front	27,522	4.32	–2.38	0	0
	Barisan Sosialis	16,488	2.59	–0.60	0	0
	Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura	13,435	2.11	+0.95	0	0
	Singapore Democratic Party	11,292	1.77	New	0	New
	Singapore Justice Party	5,271	0.83	+0.18	0	0
Total		636,452	100.00	–	75	+6
Valid votes		636,452	97.27
Invalid/blank votes		17,843	2.73
Total votes		654,295	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,290,426	95.50
Source: Nohlen et al., Singapore Elections[a]

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