Francis Thomas (politician)

Francis Thomas (10 April 1912 – 12 October 1977) was an English-born Singaporean former politician and educator. A founding member of political party Labour Front, he served as the Minister of Communications and Works from 1955 to 1958 during the 1st Legislative Assembly of Singapore.

Born in Westcotes, Thomas was educated at the University of Cambridge before moving to Singapore under British rule and working as a teacher at Saint Andrew's Secondary School. In 1944, he stopped working as a teacher and served in the military during World War II, being sent to Japan. Whilst aboard the captured SS President Harrison on the way to Japan, it sunk after being shot with torpedoes by American submarines. He escaped onto a Japanese lifeboat and was taken to a hospital ship due to a Japanese officer being onboard with them. He later reached Japan and was kept as a prisoner-of-war, working as a corporal on a quarantine island. After the war, he took a hospital ship to Southampton before moving back to Singapore in 1947 to continue working at Saint Andrew's.

In 1954, he founded Labour Front with David Marshall and Lim Yew Hock, contesting in the 1955 general election for the first Legislative Assembly. Their party got the most seats and he was nominated to serve as the Minister of Communications and Works. During his time as a minister, he remained in Labour Front despite many members leaving and eventually, in 1960, dissolved Labour Front. In 1959, he retired from politics and returned to education, serving as the principal of Saint Andrew's Secondary School from 1963 to 1974. He retired in 1975 and died on 12 October 1977 from cancer.