SPA government with receiving political funds from the United States government. Investigations by a Commission of Inquiry later revealed that Chew Swee Kee, who was then Education Minister, had converted the alleged funds for his own use. The claim has it that Chew accepted around $700,000 to $800,000 from an unrevealed donor in New York City as a "political gift". Chew promptly stepped down from his post on 4 March 1959. The incident is credited for causing the SPA's downfall. The revelation had a devastating effect on the image of SPA as the party was seen to be serving a Western power, betraying Singapore's anti-colonial movement. Results The result was a landslide win for the PAP, with the SPA lost 35 of the 39 contested constituencies and only four members represented the new Assembly. The Labour Front saw a negative swing of about 27% and failed to win any seats. The right-wing coalition party, the Liberal Socialist Party (which formed by a merger of the Democratic Party and Progressive Party) saw a disastrous performance with all of the 32 candidates were defeated, among them 20 candidates who lost their election deposits. A total of 73 candidates lost their $500 election deposit. PAP candidate Wong Soon Fong was the best performing candidate in this election in percentage terms, polling 77.66% while LSP candidate Lillian Tan was the worst performing candidate polling 0.82%. In absolute numbers, PAP's Goh Keng Swee was the best performing candidate polling 9,313 votes while LSP's Lillian Tan was the worst performing candidate polling 64 votes. The election, which saw implementations of compulsory voting and the removal of suffrage restrictions, saw a huge increase in voter turnout, with 90.07% of the voters (or 527,919 of the 586,098 registered voters), as compared to 52.66% from the previous election. By constituency Aftermath The PAP was able to form a new government which could now adopt domestic policy without oversight from the colonial administration. The United Kingdom still however controlled the military forces, foreign affairs and had a joint responsibility in internal security under agreement. However, historians saw 1959 as the year Singapore achieved self-governance as a result of the new government, even though the Constitution had been amended in 1958. On the afternoon of 5 June, Lee Kuan Yew was sworn in as the first Prime Minister at City Hall by Yang di Pertuan Negara William Goode along with members