Labour Front

The Labour Front (abbreviation: LF) was a major left-wing political party in Singapore that operated from 1955 to 1965.

Labour Front
Malay nameBarisan Buroh
Chinese name勞工陣綫
Láogōng zhènxiàn
Tamil nameதொழும் முன்னணி Toḻum muṉṉaṇi
FounderDavid Saul Marshall
Founded21 August 1954
Dissolved28 February 1960 (original)
Succeeded byWorkers' Party
IdeologyDemocratic socialism
Left-wing nationalism
Anti-imperialism
Political positionCentre-left to left-wing

Founded by David Saul Marshall, The party was instrumental in pressuring the colonial British government at the time to proceed in changing Singapore's status from a crown colony to be a self-governing state.

An offshoot of the previous Singapore Labour Party, It was formed in 1955 to contest the 1955 Singaporean general election for the Legislative Assembly that year. Although the party emerged victorious in the election, the Labour Front government lasted for only a term. It lost the 1959 and 1963 elections contesting as part of a coalition under the banner of the Singapore People's Alliance and Singapore Alliance respectively.

History

Formation

In 1952, the Singapore Labour Party (SLP) split following an internal party rivalry. In 1954, dissident leaders from SLP formed the Singapore Socialist Party (SSP). The following year, the SLP and SSP formed an alliance, the People's United Front, to contest the upcoming Legislative Assembly election. At this time, there were also plans to merge the two parties. Soon the alliance was renamed the Labour Front (LF) and was registered as a political party. David Marshall, Lim Yew Hock and Francis Thomas were among its members. Within seven months, the Labour Front had established 16 branches throughout Singapore. A women's wing was also established.

As it was originally an instrument of the SLP and SSP to gain public office in the election, it started to structure itself as a party only after the coalition government was formed after the 1955 election. The organisation structure was similar to that of SLP with some changes incorporated to minimise party feuds that had previously plagued the SLP.

The Labour Front contested the 1955 legislative elections led by David Saul Marshall, Singapore's first chief minister and Lim Yew Hock, Singapore's second chief minister. As a centre-left 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.

Delegation for home rule

Between 1955 and 1956, after sending two bi-partisan delegations to London for talks with the British, David Marshall's administration failed to gain approval from Britain for self-government in Singapore. David Marshall, taking responsibility for this failure, resigned in 1956 and soon went to form the Workers' Party of Singapore 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 carried out in the name of communism. Marshall's more hardline stance in dealing with the underground Communist movement was seen as only counterproductive by the British. He was succeeded by Lim Yew Hock.

The Lim Yew Hock government did not fare any better. Apart from the threat of the underground communist movement, Singapore were facing problems in public order, a poor economy, poor housing and sanitation, low living standards and corruption in the government which were being neglected by the colonial British government. 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 and Democratic Party in 1956) to form the Singapore People's Alliance (SPA) in 1959.

Decline

In 1957 and 1958, two bi-partisan delegations had finally successfully negotiated Singapore's status to be a self-governing state.

During the 1959 Singapore general election, The People's Action Party had won 43 of 51 seats in the parliament with a popular vote of 53%. It had campaigned on an anti-colonial platform with an ambition to initiate several reforms, improve the economy and living standards of the people and to eradicate corruption in the government. The PAP has been in government ever since. The SPA lost power and was reduced to only a handful of seats in opposition, winning only 4 seats, while the Labour Front was reduced to a very small percentage of the original party and was eventually dissolved in 1965 as Singapore gained independence. Many of its members eventually went on to join the Workers' Party.

General election results
Election Total seats won Total votes Share of votes Outcome of election Election leader
1955
10 / 32
 42,300 27.1% 10 seats; Governing coalition David Saul Marshall

Prominent Members

References
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