[13] The governing People's Action Party (PAP) has been in power since Singapore's independence in 1965, and is currently led by the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

He could have stood for election after he was discharged from bankruptcy and reinstated to the bar,[15] however, Jeyaretnam died of heart failure on 30 September 2008 at the age of 82.

Notable candidates out of the 24 introduced from the People's Action Party that were part of the "fourth-generation" (4G) cabinet which include the eventual fourth Prime Minister of Singapore Lawrence Wong, a future Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Heng Swee Keat, an ex-SAF Chief and ministers Chan Chun Sing, Tan Chuan-Jin, as well as Desmond Lee and Ong Ye Kung, the sons of former MPs Lee Yock Suan and Ong Lian Ten respectively.

There were 54 debuting candidates from six opposition party, which include Pritam Singh who made another inroad into Parliament and went on to become the Workers' Party succeeding leader in 2018, as well as Lina Loh (wife of then-Potong Pasir SMC MP Chiam See Tong), Kenneth Andrew Jeyaretnam (son of the late J.

In the first pre-election forum of this nature in Singapore since the 1988 General Election, Channel NewsAsia invited the main parties to record an hour-long programme.

"[27] This incident was cited in an article published in The Economist criticising the ruling party's election strategy[28] The New Paper released a story next day, with the headline: Is Singapore ready for a GAY MP?

[31] Nicole Seah, a team member contesting Marine Parade GRC under the NSP team, filed a complaint to the Elections Department on 6 May stating PAP-team member Tin Pei Ling had violated the state-mandated cooling-off period 24 hours before polls by posting a Facebook comment "in response to a video [in the state press] that showed Seah crying after being told about a MacPherson female resident who could not get a refund of her son's $80 tuition fees".

[33] The day after the election, Seah told reporters that her party had not received any response after making the complaint, and said no decision had been taken on whether or not to pursue the issue.

[35] Separately, the NSP also complained that the PAP had been distributing election material to residents in Tampines GRC in violation of cooling-off regulations.

Results were announced by Yam Ah Mee, chief executive director of the People's Association, who acted as the Returning Officer for the election.

[36] The first result was declared at 11.58pm on 7 May 2011, where PAP candidate Lim Biow Chuan won the Mountbatten SMC with a majority of 3,529.

The final result to be declared was for the Potong Pasir SMC at 2.51am on 8 May, where the PAP won the seat from the SPP on a razor-thin margin of 114 votes.

At 27 years of age, Marine Parade GRC MP Tin Pei Ling set a record of becoming the youngest MP-elect, which was previously held by 29-year old Ho Kah Leong back in 1966.

[45] In his post-election press conference, Lee said the polls had "heightened (voters') political consciousness and awareness", and admitted that "many of them desire to see more opposition voices in Parliament to check the PAP government".

[47] The country's Senior Minister, Goh Chok Tong, also admitted that "there is a sea change in the political landscape" after his team won Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency with just 56.6 percent of the vote.

[55] Other than the PAP and WP, the only other opposition seat pre-election had been held by the Singapore People's Party, which lost it in the polls by just 114 votes.

The SDA also contested Pasir Ris–Punggol Group Representation Constituency, and Lim said the party was "very happy" at its positive vote swing from 2006 of over 4 percent.

However, the SDA's anchorman in the constituency Harminder Pal Singh described the loss as a "time for painful reflection" and said the party would work harder to win more votes.

[61] At an ASEAN heads-of-state meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, leaders of ASEAN nations reportedly told S. Jayakumar, Singapore's representative at the event, that they were "saddened, disappointed and surprised" at the news that foreign minister Yeo had been defeated, according to the state-run Straits Times,[62] while at the same meeting the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Tun Razak, said the PAP's win would mean a continuity in understanding between the Malaysian and Singaporean governments on bilateral issues.

While Chiam See Tong has said he is opposed to the scheme, the SPP reasoned that it was "critical" to ensure an "alternative voice in Parliament", to allow the party to "remain engaged in national issues", and to be publicly visible until the next election due by 2016.

Mrs Chiam also pointed out that she was "influenced by the wishes of Potong Pasir residents" and she accepted the post as her losing margin was too small.

[65] The Workers' Party was offered the final two NCMP seats for having the second and third best performing losing candidates, which it accepted despite Mr Low also disputing the scheme.

Yee Jenn Jong was thus appointed for his performance in Joo Chiat SMC, but as it had to choose one member from the East Coast GRC team, the younger Gerald Giam was chosen over team leader and party treasurer Eric Tan as part of its leadership renewal process.

It is widely perceived by the populace that the major state-run newspapers and broadcasters "align[ed] itself with the party's ideals and decisions" and that the electoral system was tilted against the Opposition.

[28] Traditionally regarded as a PAP "fortress", a GRC fell to the opposition for the first time in Singapore's political history.

The election saw the most extensive use of co-ordination to avoid "three-cornered fights" and was also notable for seeing "two veteran MPs" making immense risks by choosing to contest in GRCs rather than their historical SMC strongholds.

[70] Analysts such as Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng believed that Minister Lee had contributed to the PAP's poor performance.