The Labour Front was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

that operated from 1955 to 1960.

History

The Labour Front was founded to contest the 1955 legislative elections by

David Saul Marshall David Saul Marshall (12 March 1908 – 12 December 1995), born David Saul Mashal, was a Singaporean lawyer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Singapore from 1955 until his resignation in 1956, after his delegation to London regarding ...

, Singapore's first

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

and

Lim Yew Hock Lim Yew Hock ( zh, c=林有福, p=Lín Yǒufú; 15 October 1914 – 30 November 1984) was a Malaysiancentre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

grouping, the Labour Front won 10 out of 25 elected seats in the legislative council and formed the first elected government of Singapore, which at that time was a separate

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...

. Between 1955 and 1956, after sending two

bi-partisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find co ...

delegations to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for talks with the British, David Marshall's administration failed to gain approval from Britain for self-government in

. David Marshall, taking responsibility for this failure, resigned in 1956 and soon went to form the

Workers' Party of Singapore The Workers' Party (abbreviation: WP) is a major centre-left political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and opposition Progr ...

the following year. Critics believed that the British were not convinced of David Marshall's ability to govern Singapore well and to deal with the then rising threat of

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...

carried out in the name of

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. Marshall's more hardline stance in dealing with the underground communist movement was only counterproductive. He was succeeded by

Lim Yew Hock Lim Yew Hock ( zh, c=林有福, p=Lín Yǒufú; 15 October 1914 – 30 November 1984) was a MalaysianPeople's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

(PAP), led by

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

, grilled the Labour Front government several times on these issues in parliamentary sessions. Later the majority of the Labour Front led by Lim Yew Hock, left the Labour Front to merge with the Liberal Socialists (formed by the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Italy ...

and

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in 1956) to form the

Singapore People's Alliance The Singapore People's Alliance was a political coalition in Singapore founded in 1958, comprising the Labour Front and Liberal Socialist Party. It has never won any seats in the Parliament of Singapore. However, the party did win 4 seats to the ...

(SPA) in 1959. In 1957 and 1958, two bi-partisan delegations successfully negotiated Singapore's status to be a

self-governing __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

state. In the 1959 elections the PAP won 43 of 51 seats in the parliament with a popular vote of 53% and having campaigned on an anti-

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

platform with an ambition to initiate several reforms, improve the economy and living standards of the people and to eradicate

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

in the government. The SPA lost power and was reduced to only a handful of seats in opposition, while the residual Labour Front was reduced to a very small percentage of the original party and was eventually dissolved in 1960.

General election results

Prominent Members

, first

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

, member of the first

Legislative Assembly of Singapore The Legislative Assembly of the State of Singapore was the legislature of the Government of Singapore from 1955 to 1965 and is the predecessor of the Parliament of Singapore. The Rendel Constitution, proposed in 1953, sought to give the local ...

representing Cairnhill *

Lim Yew Hock Lim Yew Hock ( zh, c=林有福, p=Lín Yǒufú; 15 October 1914 – 30 November 1984) was a MalaysianChief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

, Minister for Labour and Welfare (1955—1959), member of the second

Legislative Council of Singapore The Legislative Council of the Colony of Singapore was the legislative council of Singapore that assisted the governor in making laws in the colony. It officially came into existence in 1946, when the Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act 1946 a ...

representing Keppel, member of the first

representing Havelock, member of the second

representing Cairnhill * Francis Thomas, Minister for Communications and Works (1955 - 1959), Principal of St. Andrew's Secondary School (1963 - 1974) * Armand Joseph Braga, Minister of Health (1955 - 1959), member of the first

representing Katong *

Chew Swee Kee Chew Swee Kee ( zh, c=周瑞麒, p=Zhōu Ruìqí; 15 May 1918 December 1985) was a Singaporean politician. A member of the political party, the Labour Front, Chew served as Minister of Education from 1955 to 1959. Early life Chew was born 15 May ...

, Minister of Education (1955 - 1959), member of the first

representing Whampoa * Jumabhoy Mohamed Jumabhoy, Minister for Commerce and Industry (1955—1959), member of the first

representing Stamford, President of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce (1978 - 1992) * Anthony Rebeiro Lazarous, member of the first

representing Farrer Park *

Mak Pak Shee Mak Pak Shee ( zh, c=麦柏士, p=Mài Bǎishì) was a Singaporean politician. Career An African Chinese with Cantonese ancestry, Mak was the leader of the Singapore-based Labour Party. He left the party in August 1950. When he was in the Cab ...

, member of the first

representing Geylang * Seah Peng Chuan, member of the first

representing Kampong Kapor * Tan Theng Chiang, member of the first

representing Rochore * Lee Choon Eng, member of the first

representing Queenstown

References

{{Malaysian political parties Labour parties Political parties established in 1954 Political parties disestablished in 1960 Defunct political parties in Singapore 1954 establishments in Singapore 1960 disestablishments in Singapore