Chief ministership of David Marshall

David Marshall's tenure as the 1st chief minister of Singapore began on 6 April 1955 and ended on 7 June 1956, following his resignation. Marshall, a lawyer of Jewish descent, had his start in politics with the Progressive Party. Marshall later founded the Labour Front (LF) to contest in the upcoming 1955 general election, where they ended up winning the most seats with ten, leading to Marshall being named the first chief minister as the LF's leader. Marshall created his minority government after forming a coalition with the Singapore Malay National Organisation (SUMNO) and Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) alliance. He was known for his anti-colonial views and progress in attaining self-governance for Singapore throughout his chief ministership.

Early in his chief ministership, Marshall dealt with strikes and riots, and worked to remove the Emergency Regulations, something they had promised to address in their 1955 election campaign. He was then involved in a constitutional crisis in July 1955, following disagreements with governor Robert Black on the Rendel Constitution, that escalated with him threatening resignation. His demands were eventually met following meetings with Secretary of State for the Colonies Alan Lennox-Boyd, where Marshall was granted more power as the chief minister over the governor. He further addressed issues pertaining to education, citizenship, and the civil service, and improved trade relations between Singapore and Indonesia.

Apart from his successes, Marshall's chief ministership was also marked with internal conflicts. The LF was plagued with issues when they held office, and a publicised feud between him and LF assemblymen A. R. Lazarous and Lee Choon Eng led to them leaving the LF and joining the opposition, severely affecting the LF's majority over the opposition as both sides held even seats. Marshall had also been criticised for his actions in dealing with the Hock Lee bus riots and the Chinese school sit-ins, as he was considered to have been lax in giving punishment and instead agreed to the strikers' terms. External opinions of his government include the British, who tolerated Marshall while he was in office and accommodated him when he threatened resignation in fear of a more volatile government succeeding his. The Australian government largely held the same position as the British, as they believed that his government was too unstable for self-governance to be granted.

In 1956, the Marshall government sent a delegation to London to discuss the self-governance for Singapore, with a planned date of self-governance by April 1957. The British rejected Marshall's plan and gave counteroffers themselves which would have granted Singapore slight self-governance, but Marshall refused them. The constitutional talks subsequently broke down on 15 May. Marshall resigned as chief minister on 7 June 1956, having promised that if he did not obtain self-governance, he would do so. He remained as a backbencher, and was succeeded by Lim Yew Hock of LF as chief minister. Scholarly analysis gives both praise and criticism to his government, while studies using contemporary newspapers show that he generally received support from the Chinese community.