francis and catherine thomas on their wedding day, 1948.
francis was a minister in chief minister david marshall’s cabinet, although he was a nominated member of the legislative assembly. he maintained a close relationship with marshall, who considered him a close confidant. following marshall’s resignation, lim yew hock succeeded him and thomas maintained his position in lim’s cabinet.
as fractures grew within the labour front, lim established a new party - the singapore people’s alliance - and a majority of labour front assemblymen joined him, leaving thomas as the remaining labour front representative on the assembly. he was eventually removed from the cabinet and retired from politics after the end of his term. he returned to teaching and died in 1977.
