Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore

Deputy Prime Minister of the
Republic of Singapore
Deputy Prime Minister of the; Republic of Singapore
	Coat of arms of Singapore
	Flag of Singapore
	Incumbent; Heng Swee Keat; since 1 May 2019; Gan Kim Yong; since 15 May 2024;
Style	Deputy Prime Minister; (informal); The Honourable; (formal); His Excellency; (diplomatic);
Abbreviation	DPM
Appointer	Prime Minister
Term length	At the Prime Minister's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Toh Chin Chye
Formation	3 June 1959; 65 years ago
Salary	S$1,870,000 annually; (including S$192,500 MP salary)
Website	www.pmo.gov.sg

The deputy prime minister of Singapore is the deputy head of government of the Republic of Singapore. The incumbent deputy prime ministers are Heng Swee Keat and Gan Kim Yong, who took office on 1 May 2019 and 15 May 2024 respectively.

History

The deputy prime minister is the second highest post, and is a senior Cabinet minister in Singapore. Since the mid-1980s, Singapore has had two deputy prime ministers at a time. The holder will sometimes assume the role of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent from Singapore.

The office of Deputy Prime Minister dates back to 1959 and it was first appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Negara, when Singapore attained self-governance from the British Empire.

The title of Deputy Prime Minister remained unchanged after the merger with the Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and North Borneo to form Malaysia, while Singapore was a federated state of Malaysia between 1963 and 1965. Toh Chin Chye was the first deputy prime minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1968.

Heng Swee Keat was appointed as Minister of Finance and assumed the office as Deputy Prime Minister on 1 May 2019 while both Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam relinquished their positions. Heng Swee Keat was widely believed to be poised to succeed Lee Hsien Loong as the next prime minister following his appointment as Deputy Prime Minister in May 2019. However, Heng subsequently withdrew himself from the nomination in April 2021 citing age and health reasons and relinquished his finance portfolio.^[1]^[2]

Lawrence Wong assumed the office as Deputy Prime Minister on 13 June 2022, serving alongside Heng Swee Keat after being appointed as Minister of Finance in 2021. ^[3] Lawrence Wong left office on 15 May 2024 making him the shortest serving Deputy Prime Minister, on the same day Gan Kim Yong assumed the office of Deputy Prime Minister.

List of deputy prime ministers

Political parties

People's Action Party (PAP)

No.	Portrait	Name Constituency (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Cabinet
No.	Portrait	Name Constituency (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party	Cabinet
1		Toh Chin Chye (1921–2012) MP for Rochore	5 June 1959	2 August 1968	9 years, 58 days	PAP	Lee K. I Lee K. II
Vacant (2 August 1968–1 March 1973)
2		Goh Keng Swee (1918–2010) MP for Kreta Ayer	1 March 1973	1 January 1985	11 years, 306 days	PAP	Lee K. IV Lee K. V Lee K. VI
3		S. Rajaratnam (1915–2006) MP for Kreta Ayer	1 June 1980	1 January 1985	4 years, 214 days	PAP	Lee K. V Lee K. VI
4		Goh Chok Tong (born 1941) MP for Marine Parade SMC & Marine Parade GRC	2 January 1985	28 November 1990	5 years, 330 days	PAP	Lee K. VII Lee K. VIII
4		Ong Teng Cheong (1936–2002) MP for Kim Keat SMC & Toa Payoh GRC	2 January 1985	1 September 1993	8 years, 242 days	PAP	Lee K. VII Lee K. VIII Goh I Goh II
5		Lee Hsien Loong (born 1952) MP for Teck Ghee SMC & Ang Mo Kio GRC	28 November 1990	12 August 2004	13 years, 258 days	PAP	Goh I Goh II Goh III Goh IV
6		Tony Tan (born 1940) MP for Sembawang GRC	1 August 1995	1 September 2005	10 years, 31 days	PAP	Goh II Goh III Goh IV Lee H. I
7		S. Jayakumar (born 1939) MP for East Coast GRC	12 August 2004	1 April 2009	4 years, 232 days	PAP	Lee H. I Lee H. II
8		Wong Kan Seng (born 1946) MP for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC	1 September 2005	21 May 2011	5 years, 262 days	PAP	Lee H. I Lee H. II
9		Teo Chee Hean (born 1954) MP for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC	1 April 2009	30 April 2019	10 years, 30 days	PAP	Lee H. II Lee H. III Lee H. IV
10		Tharman Shanmugaratnam (born 1957) MP for Jurong GRC	21 May 2011	30 April 2019	7 years, 345 days	PAP	Lee H. III Lee H. IV
11		Heng Swee Keat (born 1961) MP for Tampines GRC & East Coast GRC	1 May 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 190 days	PAP	Lee H. IV Lee H. V Wong I
12		Lawrence Wong (born 1972) MP for Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC	13 June 2022	14 May 2024	1 year, 336 days	PAP	Lee H. V
13		Gan Kim Yong (born 1959) MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC	15 May 2024	Incumbent	177 days	PAP	Wong I

Notes

^ Ang, Hwee Min (8 April 2021). "DPM Heng Swee Keat steps aside as leader of PAP 4G team, PM Lee accepts decision". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
^ "Heng Swee Keat to be promoted to DPM in Cabinet reshuffle". Channel NewsAsia. 23 April 2019. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
^ katherine_chen (6 June 2022). "PMO | Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments (June 2022)". Prime Minister's Office Singapore. Retrieved 6 June 2022.

External links

Prime Minister's Office

[1] Ang, Hwee Min (8 April 2021). "DPM Heng Swee Keat steps aside as leader of PAP 4G team, PM Lee accepts decision". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 8 April 2021.

[2] "Heng Swee Keat to be promoted to DPM in Cabinet reshuffle". Channel NewsAsia. 23 April 2019. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.

[3] therine_chen (6 June 2022). "PMO | Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments (June 2022)". Prime Minister's Office Singapore. Retrieved 6 June 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Current members of the Cabinet of Singapore
Prime Minister	Lawrence Wong Finance
Deputy Prime Minister(s)	Gan Kim Yong Trade and Industry Heng Swee Keat
Senior Minister(s)	Lee Hsien Loong Teo Chee Hean National Security
Cabinet Minister(s)	Ng Eng Hen Defence Vivian Balakrishnan Foreign Affairs K. Shanmugam Home Affairs/Law Chee Hong Tat Transport Grace Fu Sustainability and the Environment/Trade Relations Chan Chun Sing Education Masagos Zulkifli Social and Family Development/Muslim Affairs Ong Ye Kung Health Josephine Teo Communications and Information/Smart Nation/Cybersecurity Desmond Lee National Development/Social Services Integration Edwin Tong Culture, Community and Youth Tan See Leng Manpower Indranee Rajah Prime Minister's Office Maliki Osman Prime Minister's Office
Effective from 15 May 2024

v t e Constitution of the Republic of Singapore
Text of the Constitution at Singapore Statutes Online
General principles	Exclusion of judicial review Remedies Representative democracy Rule of law Separation of powers
Fundamental liberties	Article 9 Article 10 Article 11 Article 12 Article 13 Article 14 Article 15 Article 16 Right to vote
The Government	President Cabinet Prime Minister Attorney-General The Reserves
The Legislature	President Parliament Speaker Elections Presidential General By-elections Leader of the Opposition Group Representation Constituency Non-constituency Member of Parliament Nominated Member of Parliament
The Presidential Council for Minority Rights	Presidential Council for Minority Rights
The Judiciary	Supreme Court Court of Appeal High Court State Courts Chief Justice Judicial officers Judicial independence
The Public Service	Singapore Civil Service Singapore Legal Service
Citizenship	Singaporean nationality law
Special powers against subversion and emergency powers	Internal Security Act
Constitution of the Republic of Singapore Tribunal

History

List of deputy prime ministers

See also

Notes

External links