SINGAPOREAN INDEPENDENCE.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Report of the Singapore Constitutional Conference Held in London in March and April, 1957. First edition, the copy of Sir John Martin, the chief British negotiator in talks concerning Singaporean independence. After the abortive 1956 first constitutional conference, the 1957 talks took the first crucial step on the road to Singaporean independence, agreeing to self-government and the formation of a political entity known as the "State of Singapore."Tasked with agreeing a provisional constitution, the two sides, led by Secretary of State for the Colonies Alan Lennox-Boyd and Lim Yew Hock (Singapore's chief minister), "agreed in principle at the outset of the Conference that the Constitution should be designed to confer upon Singapore full internal self-government, leaving responsibility for external affairs and defence and the ultimate right to suspend the Constitution still in the hands of Her Majesty's Government" (p. 4). Over the negotiating table, delegates formulated the new positions of prime minister and yang di-pertuan negara (head of state), as well as a distinct Singaporean citizenship within the Commonwealth. Westminster passed the State of Singapore Act following the third and final constitutional conference, held in May 1958.Martin (1904-1991) had known Lennox-Boyd since university and the two men had a close working relationship. Martin cut his political teeth as principal private secretary to Winston Churchill during the Second World War and then in the Middle E

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