Michael Anthony Palmer is a Singaporean lawyer and former politician.
Education
Palmer attended the Street Andrew"s family of schools – Street Andrew"s Junior School, Street Andrew"s Secondary School and Street Andrew"s Junior College – which is affiliated to the Anglican Church of Singapore. He later read law in and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) in 1992.
Career
He became a partner at the firm in 1998. The firm was renamed Quahe Woo & Palmer when he joined. Political career Palmer served as the Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2011, and as the Chairman of the Home Affairs and Law committee in 2011.
At the 2011 general election, Palmer was elected as the Member of Parliament for Punggol East Single Member Constituency after defeating Lee Li Lian of the Workers" Party and Desmond Lim of the Singapore Democratic Alliance.
Palmer was then nominated by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for the post of Speaker of Parliament, and was elected to this role by the House on 10 October 2011. Palmer announced his resignation as Speaker of Parliament and Member of Parliament for Punggol East (as well as from the PAP) on 12 December 2012 due to an extra-marital affair with Laura Ong Hui Hoon, constituency director of the People"s Association (Pennsylvania) office in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC. At an press conference, alongside Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, Palmer admitted he had made "a grave mistake" and that it was "a serious error of judgment".
He resigned "in order to avoid further embarrassment". The Pennsylvania staff member concerned also resigned.
Other roles Palmer was also the Chairman of the National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) Council.
He was replaced by Assistant Commissioner Zuraidah as Covering Chairperson after the scandal. Palmer is married to Diane Palmer, with whom he has a son. Palmer"s father, Vernon Palmer, was a news presenter in Singapore.
Membership
He served as a Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for Singapore"s governing People"s Action Party (PAP) from 2006 to 2012, and was the Speaker of the House in the Parliament of Singapore from October 2011 to December 2012, when he resigned after it was revealed that he had been having an extra-marital affair with an employee of the People"s Association (Pennsylvania) Laura Ong. Palmer was elected a Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for the Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) in the 2006 general election.