Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore

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 soon after assumed the office as Deputy Prime Minister on 1 May 2019. Both Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam relinquished their positions to become Senior Minister of Singapore. 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. 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. [3]

Political parties

No.	Portrait	Name Constituency (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Toh Chin Chye MP for Rochore (1921–2012)	5 June 1959	2 August 1968	9 years, 58 days	PAP	Lee K. II
Vacant (2 August 1968–1 March 1973)
2		Goh Keng Swee MP for Kreta Ayer (1918–2010)	1 March 1973	1 January 1985	11 years, 306 days	PAP	Lee K. IV Lee K. V Lee K. VI
3		S. Rajaratnam MP for Kampong Glam (1915–2006)	1 June 1980	1 January 1985	4 years, 214 days	PAP	Lee K. V Lee K. VI
4		Goh Chok Tong MP for Marine Parade (until 1988) MP for Marine Parade GRC (from 1988) (born 1941)	2 January 1985	28 November 1990	5 years, 330 days	PAP	Lee K. VII Lee K. VIII
4		Ong Teng Cheong MP for Kim Keat SMC (until 1991) MP for Toa Payoh GRC (from 1991) (1936–2002)	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 MP for Teck Ghee SMC (until 1991) MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC (from 1991) (born 1952)	28 November 1990	12 August 2004	13 years, 258 days	PAP	Goh I Goh II Goh III Goh IV
6		Tony Tan MP for Sembawang GRC (born 1940)	1 August 1995	1 September 2005	10 years, 31 days	PAP	Goh II Goh III Goh IV Lee H. I
7		S. Jayakumar MP for East Coast GRC (born 1939)	12 August 2004	1 April 2009	4 years, 232 days	PAP	Lee H. I Lee H. II
8		Wong Kan Seng MP for Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (born 1946)	1 September 2005	21 May 2011	5 years, 262 days	PAP	Lee H. I Lee H. II
9		Teo Chee Hean MP for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC (born 1954)	1 April 2009	30 April 2019	10 years, 29 days	PAP	Lee H. II Lee H. III Lee H. IV
10		Tharman Shanmugaratnam MP for Jurong GRC (born 1957)	21 May 2011	30 April 2019	7 years, 344 days	PAP	Lee H. III Lee H. IV
11		Heng Swee Keat MP for Jurong GRC (until 2020) MP for East Coast GRC (from 2020) (born 1961)	1 May 2019	Incumbent	4 years, 17 days	PAP	Lee H. IV Lee H. V
12		Lawrence Wong MP for Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC (born 1972)	13 June 2022	Incumbent	339 days	PAP	Lee H. V

• Prime Minister of Singapore
• Senior Minister of Singapore
• Prime Minister's Office (PMO)
• Cabinet of Singapore

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• Prime Minister's Office