David Marshall; Singapore Political Leader, Diplomat

SINGAPORE — David Marshall, a major figure in Singapore’s struggle for independence and early development, died Tuesday. He was 87.

Marshall had been suffering from lung cancer, a family spokesman said.

He was elected to lead British-ruled Singapore in 1955, when his Labor Front coalition won the first election that gave the island a measure of internal self-government.

He resigned the next year when constitutional talks for greater self-rule broke down. But he remained a member of Parliament, where he criticized the authoritarian tendencies of the People’s Action Party, which came to power in 1959, led the country to full independence in 1965 and continues to rule.

He stepped away from politics in 1972 and became a highly regarded criminal lawyer. Marshall’s skill at winning over juries is said to have been partly responsible for then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s decision in 1970 to abolish the jury system.

In 1978, at the age of 70, Marshall retired as a lawyer and was appointed ambassador to France, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland, a post that he held for 15 years.