Progressive Party (Singapore)


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The Singapore Progressive Party (abbreviation: PP), or simply the Progressive Party, was a political party that was formed on 25 August 1947. It won the 1948 Legislative Assembly general elections with half of the contested seats in the Legislative Assembly, 3 out of 6. At that time, the self-government power of the Legislative Assembly was still rather limited.

Progressive Party

Chinese name进步党
Jìnbù Dǎng
Malay nameParti Progresif
ڤرتي ڤروݢريسيف
Tamil nameமுற்போக்குக் கட்சி Muṟpōkkuk kaṭci
FounderTan Chye Cheng
Founded25 August 1947; 77 years ago
Dissolved10 May 1956; 68 years ago
Merged intoLiberal Socialist Party
Succeeded byLiberal Socialist Party
IdeologyReformism
ColoursPurple

The party was founded by three lawyers, namely Tan Chye Cheng, John Laycock and Nazir Ahmad Mallal. All three were educated at the University of London and were three of the six first ever elected legislative councillors in Singapore. The party was Singapore's first political party.

The Progressive Party was heavily backed by and made up of English-speaking upper class professionals. Its campaign ideology was to advocate progressive and gradual reforms, rather than sudden, quick, radical ones, which fell in line with British policy at the time, to slowly let Singapore gain full self-government. This approach was criticised vehemently by David Saul Marshall, leader of the Labour Front who instead wanted rapid reform.

In the Legislative Council, the SPP worked closely with the British Government. The SPP fought for equal treatment with both local and European civil servants, but this did not please the Chinese-educated locals, who were very unhappy with the SPP's Pro-British stance.

Central Provident Fund

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In 1951, PP drafted a law for the setting up of a Central Provident Fund,[1] and it was approved by the British government in 1954, this CPF scheme provides financial security for workers in their retirement or for workers who were unable to work, this scheme came into effect in 1955, when David Marshall took office, and even after so many years, the CPF scheme despite having a few revisions and changes, remains in Singapore.

Election Seats up for Election Seats contested by Party Contested seats won Contested seats lost Total seats won Change Total votes Share of votes Swing Resulting Government Party Leader
1948 6 5 3 2

3 / 6

   3 11,754

49.49 / 100

   49.49% — Tan Chye Cheng
1951 9 8 6 2

6 / 9

   3 11,202

45.37 / 100

   4.12% — Tan Chye Cheng
Legislative Council By-Elections
Election Seats up for Election Seats contested by Party Contested seats won Contested seats lost Total seats won Change Total votes Share of votes Resulting Government Party Leader
1948 1 1 0 1

0 / 1

   705

23.91 / 100

 — Tan Chye Cheng

Legislative Assembly

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Election Seats up for Election Seats contested by Party Contested seats won Contested seats lost Total seats won Change Total votes Share of votes Swing Resulting Government Party Leader
1955 25 22 4 18

4 / 25

   2 38,695

24.75 / 100

   20.62% Opposition Tan Chye Cheng

Municipal Council(till 1951) / City Council(since 1951)

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Election Seats up for Election Seats contested by Party Contested seats won Contested seats lost Total seats won Change Total votes Share of votes Swing
April 1949 18 16 13 3

13 / 18

   13 10,874

73.89 / 100

 New Party
December 1949 6 6 3 3

12 / 18

   1 3,907

50.05 / 100

   23.84%
1950 6 4 3 1

9 / 18

   3 3,902

32.41 / 100

   17.64%
1951 6 6 2 4

9 / 18

   6,729

43.20 / 100

   10.79%
1952 6 6 4 2

9 / 18

   9,637

42.88 / 100

   0.32%
1953 6 (including 1 unopposed) 4 3 1

9 / 18

   8,532

40.52 / 100

   2.36%
  1. ^ "PROVIDENT FUND TOR ALL EMPLOYEES". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2022-01-11.