page_title: David Marshall (Singaporean politician)
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: David Marshall (Singaporean politician) / Political career
caption_attribution_description: English: A bust of David Marshall (12 March 1908 – 12 December 1995), a Singaporean politician and lawyer who served as Singapore's first Chief Minister from 1955 to 1956. The bust was sculpted in 1956 by Peter Lambda, a Hungarian-born sculptor and writer based in London. It was donated to the School of Law, Singapore Management University, by Mrs. Jean Marshall in 2011.
context_page_description: David Saul Marshall DKJP, was a Singaporean politician and lawyer who served as Singapore's first Chief Minister from 1955 to 1956. As the founder and president of the Labour Front and subsequently the Workers' Party, Marshall was instrumental in the negotiations that led to the home rule and eventual independence of Singapore from the United Kingdom.
context_section_description: In April 1955, Marshall led the left-wing Labour Front to a narrow victory in Singapore's first Legislative Assembly elections. He formed a minority government and became Chief Minister. He resigned in April 1956 after a failed delegation to London to negotiate for complete self-rule. Replacing him as Chief Minister was Lim Yew Hock.
  After resigning, Marshall visited China for two months at the invitation of Zhou Enlai, the Chinese Premier. Contacted by a representative of a group of over 400 Russian Jews who were being refused exit from Shanghai by the Chinese authorities, Marshall spoke with Zhou and managed to have them released.
  After returning from China, Marshall stayed on the backbenches before quitting the Labour Front and as a member of the Legislative Assembly in 1957. On 7 November 1957, he founded the Workers' Party of Singapore (WP). He won a by-election in Anson on 15 July 1961.
  Marshall lost his seat in Cairnhill Single Member Constituency to Lim Yew Hock, the Chief Minister, in the 1959 general election as a WP candidate, but won in Anson Single Member Constituency in the 1961 by-election. He resigned from the Workers' Party in January 1963 after a spat with the party. After losing his seat again in the 1963 general election as an independent candidate, he returned to practice law and remained active in politics even after J. B. Jeyaretnam became the leader of the WP in 1972.
  Although Marshall consistently praised Lee Kuan Yew and People's Action Party for their economic successes, he also condemned repression of freedom of speech and public freedoms. "We should keep in mind the horrors of [China's] Cultural Revolution, brought about by the cult of subservience to authority and primacy of society over the individual, before we point the accusing finger at those who believe that respect for the individual is the basis of human civilisation", he said.
  From 1978 to 1993, Marshall served as Singapore's Ambassador to France, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. As an ambassador, Marshall always defended Singapore's interests, despite his differences with Lee Kuan Yew's government. He retired from the diplomatic corps in 1993.
caption: Peter Lambda's bust of Marshall, created in 1956, at the School of Law, Singapore Management University
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