The outgoing Parliament had been dissolved and the general election called by President Tony Tan on 25 August, on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

[4][5] Of the 89 seats, the People's Action Party (PAP) contested all and won 83, with the other six won by the Workers' Party (WP); the WP successfully retained their wards of Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC, with Punggol East SMC being the only seat to change hands, as it was recaptured by the PAP.

[7] The maximum term of a Singaporean parliament is five years, within which it must be dissolved by the President and elections held within three months, as stated in the Constitution.

[11] The governing People's Action Party (PAP) has been in power since 1959 and is currently led by the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

In the SMCs, three constituencies (Bukit Batok, Fengshan and MacPherson) had reappeared from the political map for the first time since their last presence in 1991, 1988 and 2006, respectively.

[24][25] Towards the end of the term, founding Prime Minister of Singapore and member-of-parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC Lee Kuan Yew died of pneumonia on 23 March 2015, about 60 years after serving the constituency.

Secretary-general and Loh's spouse, Chiam See Tong, announced that he would not contest the election for the first time since his debut in 1976, citing health reasons.

[38] The parliament had responded to the signals of the electorate and tweaked its policies to cool escalating housing prices, enhance transport services, reward the nation's elderly pioneers and impose a significant cut to the salaries of certain office-holders.

2013 had also met with several incidents, most notably the 2013 Southeast Asian haze, the Population White Paper,[39] the 2013 Little India riots,[40] and controversies surrounding Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.

[41]: 22  2014 also saw certain policy changes and certain debates addressing concerns for Central Provident Fund and retirement, its LGBT rights in Singapore, and its impact in its culture after three books are pulled from its shelves and destroyed according to National Library Board.

[43][44] A series of two by-elections within eight months were held during the term, marking it the first occurrence of such since 1992, with both involving a member-of-parliament vacating a SMC in 2012 pertaining to extramarital affairs.

Ten months later on December 12, Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore Michael Palmer resigned from all the posts and the party, and the MP for Punggol East SMC.

The ballot paper will also be printed to include passport photographs of candidates for better identification; these changes were first enacted on the 2011 Presidential election.

A total of 72 candidates made their political debut this election, among which the PAP team include a former Second Permanent Secretary,[62] a former MediaCorp television personality,[63] a former police assistant commissioner,[64] a founder of an organisation focusing animal welfare,[65] and a former Chief of Defence Force.

Results were announced by Ng Wai Choong, chief executive director of the Energy Market Authority, who served as the Returning Officer for the election.

[11] The first result was declared at 11.31pm on 11 September where PAP candidate Lam Pin Min won the Sengkang West SMC with a majority of 17,564.

Contrary to expectations of a tougher contest as there are no walkovers this election, PAP had one of its best results since 2001, increasing their vote share by nearly ten percentage points to just under 70%.