Editing Labour Front (section)

==History==
LF was founded in 25 August 1954, as an alliance between the [[Singapore Labour Party]] (SLP) and the Singapore Socialist Party (SSP), the latter was itself an offshoot from SLP. LF was created to contest the [[1955 Singaporean general election|1955 legislative election]] by [[David Marshall (Singaporean politician)|David Marshall]], Singapore's first [[chief minister]] and [[Lim Yew Hock]], Singapore's second chief minister.<ref>{{cite book |title=Political development in Singapore, 1945–55 |publisher=Singapore University Press. |date=1973 |last=Yeo |first=K.W. |page=114}}</ref><ref> {{cite news |title=New Labour Front formed in colony |date=22 August 1954 |work=The Straits Times }}</ref> LF had called for self-government through unity with the [[Federation of Malaya]], creation of citizenship and setting up a welfare state with housing loans, medical services, unemployment insurance and minimum wage. It also wanted to repeal the [[Internal Security Act (Singapore)#History and developments|emergency regulations]] and amend the [[Labour movement of Singapore#History|trade union ordinance]] for greater autonomy.<ref> {{cite news |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19550402-1.2.6 |work=The Straits Times |title=The Party Manifestoes |date=2 April 1955}} </ref> A [[centre-left]] grouping, LF won 10 out of 25 elected seats in the legislative assembly and formed the first elected government of Singapore, which at that time was a [[crown colony|British crown colony]].<ref name="nlb"/>
	
In April 1956, Marshall led an all-party delegation to London for talks with the British, in the first of what would later be known as the Merdeka talks.<ref> {{cite book |title=A Sensation of Independence: A Political Biography of David Marshall |publisher=Singapore: Marshall Cavendish |last=Chan |first=Heng Chee |edition=2008}} </ref><ref> {{cite report |title=All-Party Mission to London, Report on Singapore All-Party Mission to London, April/May 1956 |publisher=Govt. Print. Off. |date=1945 |location=National Library of Singapore |docket=RCLOS 342.5957 SIN}} </ref> The talks resulted in a deadlock as both sides refused to compromise on the security arrangements.<ref>{{cite news |title=Drama of the Last Hours |last=Miller |first=Harry |work=The Straits Times |date=17 May 1956 }}</ref> Marshall's administration failed to gain approval from Britain for Singapore's independence; in taking responsibility for the failure, Marshall resigned in April 1956;<ref> {{cite news |title=Marshall to Resign on June 6 |last=Miller |first=Harry |work=The Straits Times |date=21 May 1956 }}</ref><ref> {{cite news |title=The Marshall Diary |last=Miller |first=Harry |work=The Straits Times |date=6 June 1956 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nlb.gov.sg |title=Merdeka talks |last=Lee |first=Meiyu |website=National Library Board}}</ref> and soon went on to form the [[Workers' Party (Singapore)|Workers' Party]]. Critics believed that the British were not convinced of Marshall's ability to govern Singapore well and deal with the rising threat of [[insurgency]] carried out in the name of [[communism]].{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} Marshall was succeeded by his deputy, [[Lim Yew Hock|Lim]].<ref name="nlb"/> 

The LF-alliance government had faced various challenges in the nascent years of local governance.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lim |first=Tin Seng |url=https://www.nlb.gov.sg |title=1955 Legislative Assembly general election |website=National Library Board}}</ref><ref> {{cite report |title=Singapore Legislative Assembly, Governor's Address vol. 1 of Debates: Official Report |publisher=Govt. Print. Off. |date=22 April 1955 |location=National Library of Singapore |docket=RCLOS 328.5957 SIN}} </ref> Apart from the threat of the underground communist movement, Singapore faced problems in public order, poor economy, poor housing and sanitation, low living standards and government corruption. The then-opposition [[People's Action Party]] (PAP), led by [[Lee Kuan Yew]], grilled the LF-alliance government several times on these issues in the legislative assembly sessions.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} Nevertheless, the LF-alliance government were able to implement a slew of measures that improved workers' welfare, such as ratifying the labour code, and establishing the [[Central Provident Fund]], [[Meet-the-People Sessions]] and [[Legal Aid Bureau]]. It was also credited with inculcating nationalistic sentiments into the populace, in lieu of colonial subservience, and resolving various constitutional challenges such as citizenship, Chinese education, and language.  Through the Merdeka talks, Marshall had also set the framework to direct future negotiations towards realizing full independence.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=((Low, J.)) |journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies | title=Kept in position: The Labour Front-Alliance Government of Chief Minister David Marshall in Singapore, April 1955 - June 1956 |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=41–64 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | date=1 February 2004 | url=https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-114741943/kept-in-position-the-labour-front-alliance-government |doi=10.1017/S0022463404000037|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Under Lim's leadership, the LF-alliance government had ruthlessly suppressed the Chinese school rioters in October 1956, and many pro-communist union leaders in the PAP were detained under the [[Internal Security Act (Singapore)|Internal Security Act]]. The tough measures may have alienated a large portion of the Chinese speaking electorate.<ref> {{cite news |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19841201-1.2.25.4 |title=Man who thumped the Reds |last=Reutens |first=Lulin |work=The Straits Times |date=1 December 1984}}</ref> In 1957 and 1958, two all-party delegations led by Lim eventually negotiated Singapore's status to be a [[self-governance of Singapore#partial internal self-government (1955-1959)|self-governing state]] with a ''[[Yang di-Pertuan Negara]]'', to represent the titular head of state.<ref name="ChengLee2008">{{cite book|author1=Edwin Lee Siew Cheng|author2=Edwin Lee|title=Singapore: the unexpected nation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSqXGSinwP4C&pg=PA139|access-date=9 April 2011|year=2008|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-230-796-5|page=139}}</ref><ref name="turnbull"> {{cite book |title=A history of modern Singapore, 1819-2005 |last=Turnbull |first=C.M. |date=2009 |pages=264-266 |publisher=NUS Press |isbn=978-9971-69-430-2}}</ref> In 1959, the majority of LF led by Lim, left the core party to merge with the [[Liberal Socialist Party (Singapore)|Liberal Socialists]] to form the [[Singapore People's Alliance]] (SPA).<ref> {{cite news |title=Mr Lim leads new party |work=The Straits Times |date=11 November 1958}}</ref>  In the [[1959 Singaporean general election|1959 elections]], the PAP won 43 of 51 seats in the legislative assembly, with a popular vote of 53%, having campaigned on an [[colonialism|anti-colonial]] platform with an ambition to initiate reforms to improve the economy and living standards of the people, as well as eradicate [[political corruption|corruption]] in the government. The SPA lost power and was reduced to only a handful of seats in opposition, while the residual LF was reduced to a very small fraction of the original party and was eventually dissolved in 1960.<ref> {{cite news |title=End of the Front |work=The Straits Times |date=1 March 1960}}</ref>