CITY COUNCIL ELECTION 1953
The term of the City Councillors elected in the 1950 Municipal Election expired. Three of them, including one from PP, were running for a new term. Former PP and independent Councillor, S. S. Manyam, rejoined LP, a party he helped formed, and was running under its ticket. Another two independents in the South ward, S. Jaganathan and M. P. D. Nair, were former LP Councillors and also returned to LP's fold, with Nair retiring. In City ward, the PP opponent of independent J. M. Jumabhoy, Mrs Mary Lobo, was not eligible to contest due to her name missing from the electoral 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 an independent, joined PP but became independent again before stepping down. Former members of LP who founded the Democratic Labour Party, the prelude to LF, contested as "Independent-Labour" candidates. UMNO-MCA, which fielded a member of UMNO, made it the first time a third party contested city elections. PP retained its simple majority in the Council for the fourth time in a row. After this, there were no city elections until 1957 and the terms of all incumbent Councillors were extended. The Rendel Commission and another two committees, including the McNeice Commission, delayed the completion of reviewing Singapore's national and local governance. In May 1954, it was officially confirmed that city elections would be postponed indefinitely. Politicians lobbied for a fresh election in December 1955 but the constitutional standstill lasted longer than expected.
Nomination day: 4 November 1953 [Wed]
Polling day: 5 December 1953 [Sat]
Registered voters: 50,238
Walkover voters: 6,700 (13.3%)
Eligible voters: 43,538 (86.7%)
Voter turnout: 21,527 (50.3%)
Election deposit: $250
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