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.

The then-opposition People's Action Party (PAP), led by Lee Kuan Yew, grilled the Labour Front government several times on these issues in parliamentary sessions.

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