MacPherson Single Member Constituency

History

First existence (1968–1991)

MacPherson Constituency was created for the 1968 general election, with Chua Sian Chin from the governing People's Action Party (PAP) winning unopposed. He would retain the constituency, both unopposed and against different opposition candidates, until the 1991 general election, when it was abolished and merged into Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

In 1988, the constituency was renamed MacPherson Single Member Constituency with the creation of GRCs.

Second existence (1997–2011)

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.

In the election, Yao won 65.14% of the vote. He would retain the SMC until the 2011 general election, when it was merged again into Marine Parade GRC.

Third existence (2015–2025)

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. The NSP later backtracked and fielded Steve Chia in the constituency, but Chia quit citing online abuse over his participation. As a result, the party fielded Cheo Chai Chen. 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.

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. He later claimed that he was joking. 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%. For not winning at least 12.5% of the vote, Cheo forfeited his election deposit of S$14,500.

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.

For the 2025 general election, the SMC was abolished and merged into Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC.

Members of Parliament

Electoral results

Note: The Elections Department does not include rejected votes when calculating the vote shares of candidates. Hence, all candidates' vote shares will total to 100% at any given election (may not appear so in multi-way contests due to rounding).

Elections in 1960s

|reg. electors = 13,099

Elections in 1970s

|reg. electors= 15,637 |reg. electors= 18,716

Elections in 1980s

|reg. electors=19,500}}

Elections in 1990s

Elections in 2000s

Elections in 2010s

Elections in 2020s

References

References

1. "ELD {{!}} 1968 Parliamentary General Election Results".
2. "ELD {{!}} 1972 Parliamentary General Election Results".
3. "ELD {{!}} 1976 Parliamentary General Election Results".
4. "ELD {{!}} 1980 Parliamentary General Election Results".
5. (4 September 1988). "MacPherson". [[The Straits Times]].
6. (8 September 1991). "Five town councils dissolved, 2 formed".
7. (15 June 1988). "13 GRCs for next general election". [[The Straits Times]].
8. (18 December 1996). "Yao to Chee: Don't run from people's judgment". [[The Straits Times]].
9. "ELD {{!}} 1997 Parliamentary General Election Results".
10. "ELD {{!}} 2001 Parliamentary General Election Results".
11. "ELD {{!}} 2006 Parliamentary General Election Results".
12. Suparto, Idayu. (4 September 2015). "GE2015: NSP's Cheo Chai Chen slams WP as arrogant, expresses concern about its alleged financial lapses". [[The Straits Times]].
13. (20 August 2015). "Hazel Poa quits NSP abruptly over party's decision to contest in MacPherson".
14. "Tin Pei Ling’s new status as a mum is a weakness: Cheo".
15. "Tin Pei Ling delivered the best possible smackdown to NSP's Cheo Chai Chen's sexist and ageist remarks".
16. "Singapore Parliamentary General Election 2015".
17. (11 July 2020). "PAP Sees 27% Dip In West Coast GRC, But MacPherson SMC Turning Into Stronghold". Must Share News.
18. (11 March 2025). "Marine Parade GRC to absorb MacPherson SMC, cede parts of Chai Chee, Siglap". [[The Straits Times]].