David Marshall Net Worth

Background and career

David Saul Marshall (né Mashal; 12 March 1908 – 12 December 1995) was a Singaporean lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the first chief minister of Singapore from April 1955 to June 1956. He resigned after just over a year into his chief ministership after his delegation to London regarding negotiations for self-governance was rejected by the British.

Born in colonial Singapore to Jewish parents, Marshall studied at Saint Andrew's Secondary School and Raffles Institution. He attended the University of London in 1934, returning to Singapore in 1937 to begin his law practice. In 1938, Marshall began volunteering with the Singapore Volunteer Corps. Following the surrender of Singapore, Marshall became a prisoner-of-war and was interned at Changi Prison before being sent to Japan. He returned to Singapore in 1946 after the Japanese's surrender, where he joined the newly created Progressive Party (PP) the following year. However, disputes with the PP and its leader C. C. Tan led to Marshall leaving in 1953. He then founded the Labour Front (LF) with Lim Yew Hock and Francis Thomas, serving as its first chairman. The LF contested at the 1955 general election, where they won the most seats with 10, and Marshall was named the first chief minister as the LF's leader.

Marshall's chief ministership was marked with strikes and riots, a constitutional crisis, and internal problems with the LF. His main goal was obtaining self-governance, and he led a delegation to London in 1956 to hold constitutional talks with British authorities. However, the talks broke down and he subsequently resigned as chief minister, having promised to do so if he did not achieve self-governance. He remained a backbencher and was succeeded by Lim. Marshall then resigned from the LF and the Legislative Assembly in 1957 and founded the Workers' Party (WP). He contested at the 1959 general election, where he lost to Lim, but won Anson at the 1961 by-elections. Marshall would resign from the WP following internal disputes and later lost his seat at the following election.

Afterwards, Marshall left politics and returned to law. In 1978, Marshall became a diplomat and was Singapore's inaugural ambassador to various countries, including France, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. During this time he defended Singapore's interests abroad, despite his old political opponent Lee Kuan Yew of the People's Action Party having long led the government as prime minister. Nevertheless, he publicly maintained constructive criticism of some domestic policies with which he disagreed. Marshall retired in 1993 and died two years later at the age of 87.