1955 general election Prior to the
1955 general election, Jumabhoy was announced as a
Labour Front (LF) candidate in October 1954, though the constituency he would contest in had not been decided yet; he previously announced his candidacy, though as an independent. He explained his circumstances to joining the LF in a 1983 interview, where he said he did not believe they were a good party, instead that they had good personalities. He had met with LF members
David Marshall,
Lim Yew Hock, and
S. Jaganathan, and joined soon after, though he "had [his] doubts, whether [he] was doing the right thing or not". In the
Singapore Standard, Jumabhoy described the LF as a "properly organised political organisation" and that it was time for him to "identify myself with the working class people in the Colony." During the campaign period, Jumabhoy held a rally that had appearances from fellow LF members Marshall and
Lee Choon Eng. He upheld the LF's four-year plan for Singapore and brought up his experience as a city councillor. Jumabhoy went on to win Stamford Constituency with 2,691 votes, against Simon's 1,281, Nazir's 1,153, and Ng's 1,121.
Assistant Minister for Commerce and Industry (1955–1956) Following the LF's minor majority of ten seats in the Legislative Assembly, LF leader Marshall was named as the first
chief minister. In April 1955, Marshall announced
his cabinet, with Jumabhoy appointed as the assistant minister for commerce and industry. He was to assist Marshall, who held the roles of chief minister and minister for commerce and industry concurrently. Prior speculation was that Jumabhoy would be the minister for communications and works. In September, he opened the LF's new branch at
Bencoolen Street in his constituency, where he announced that the LF were planning to build for four additional branches soon. In October, Jumabhoy headed a 17-member delegation to Indonesia that aimed to discuss a further economic mission that would be sent in December; talks relating to trade between the countries were originally held with Indonesian officials in July. Upon his return, Jumabhoy stated that Indonesia would soon send their own delegation to Singapore. In November, he left on a 14-day visit to India with chief minister Marshall. They discussed improving trade relations between the countries with Indian commerce minister G. Karmarkar. They returned in December, and he defended some of Marshall's speeches he made while in India, stating that "People in Singapore do not appreciate what he has achieved or the goodwill he obtained from
Mr. Nehru for our cause." After Marshall made a trip to London in December to discuss a 1956 constitutional conference date with the British, they also made other concessions, which included making his portfolio of chief minister independent. This left the post of minister of commerce and industry vacant, with Jumabhoy succeeding Marshall on 7 March 1956.
Minister for Commerce and Industry (1956–1959) On 17 March, Jumabhoy was announced as a member of the delegation to the
1956 constitutional talks in London, that was headed by Marshall. However, these talks would be unsuccessful and Marshall resigned as chief minister as a result, with minister for labour and welfare
Lim Yew Hock succeeding him. In
Lim's cabinet, Jumabhoy maintained his post as minister for commerce and industry. In December, he held talks with Federation finance minister
H. S. Lee to discuss the recent increase in tariffs from the
Federation of Malaya on Singapore, while also encouraging Singaporeans to support locally-made products. In April 1957, the government rejected an offer by the Australian government to construct a milk plant in Singapore, with Jumabhoy explaining that they would not have enough government funds to run it efficiently; it would have cost annually to maintain. However, P. M. Raman of
The Singapore Free Press observed that the Marshall government had previously accepted the offer, as compared to the current Lim government. Raman criticised the lack of transparency in ministers' actions. In July, Jumabhoy warned merchants against overpricing the cost of rice, following an exportation ban from the Siamese government. He reassured that the government was looking for alternate supply sources whilst also maintaining their existing stock pile of rice products. He stated that if overpricing continued, the government would enact
price controls. In December, Jumabhoy defended against allegations from opposition members that the government had not been contributing to industrial development in Singapore, where he said that 129 new industrial companies had been established in that year. In April 1958, he held talks with a 22-member Australian delegation, where he pledged cooperation to increase two-way trade between their countries. In August, Jumabhoy announced the government's decision to introduce tariffs and restrict importation, though this would not affect
re-exportation. A bill was also created that required external manufacturers to partner with local manufacturers if they wished to create goods in Singapore, along with obtaining a license. Furthermore, he stated that new legislation was being made that provided income tax exemptions on new industries. These measures were enacted to protect and promote local industries, though it would be on a selective basis, depending on the contribution of the business. In November, Jumabhoy was revealed as a member of Lim's new political party, the
Singapore People's Alliance (SPA), along with being a part of its central committee. Later that same month, he returned from a five-week tour of the United States, the Philippines, and Australia, and additionally attended the Colombo Plan Consultive Committee in Seattle. Jumabhoy stated that Australian and American investors had expressed interest in investing in Singapore, but were reluctant due to their unstable politics, mainly concerned if Singapore became
extreme left.
Cigarette scheme In September, he revealed plans to create locally-run cigarette and match factories to help improve industrialisation. These factories were planned to have about half their shares come from the People's Investment Corporation, which itself would be opened to the general working population and allow them to make shares. The shares of the cigarette factory would be half owned by the public and overseas cigarette companies, which would advise on the manufacturing process. Once complete, cigarette and match imports would be banned, with the factory estimated to produce cigarettes on par to the number of cigarettes imported. Jumabhoy explained that around 160 million cigarettes were smoked monthly, with 90% originating overseas. Therefore, such a scheme allowed Singaporeans to take in those overseas profits, while also providing more jobs. However, some had different views, with Yap Pheng Geck of the
Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce opining that the local factories would not produce cigarettes of the same quality, while T. A. Hallerstrom, the Swedish consul for Singapore, suggesting that match re-exportation would cease if banned. In January 1959,
People's Action Party (PAP) leader and assemblyman
Lee Kuan Yew criticised Jumabhoy's cigarette scheme in the Legislative Assembly, as "nobody is going to make any commitments involving millions of dollars on the basis of promises held out by a government whose term of office will last approximately eight weeks." Furthermore, the Singapore Tobacco Company's chairman J. C. Hosgood disagreed that Jumabhoy's cigarette factory would produce in profits annually. Jumabhoy defended his estimation and stated that locally-made cigarettes would be of the same quality as foreign brands. In March, however, he reported difficulties in negotiations with the
British American Tobacco Company (BATC), which the
Singapore Free Press attributed to the rapidly changing political climate in Singapore. The factory, which was provided by the Singapore Tobacco Company, was intended to begin service in January. Jumabhoy stated that it was unlikely negotiations with the BATC would be completed before the
next general election. In a 1983 interview, he explained his suspicions that Lee was involved in some way in halting the negotiations with the BATC, and was later told by a BATC person that they did have talks with Lee. Jumabhoy believed that the PAP stopped him as the scheme would have provided the SPA government with a stake in industry. In the end, the BATC only agreed to sign the agreement after the elections.
1959 general election Ahead of the 1959 general election in April,
The Straits Times suspected that Jumabhoy would be fielded in Stamford Constituency, under the SPA banner. During the election, he contested for Stamford against
Fung Yin Ching of the PAP, Hooi Beng Guan of the
Liberal-Socialists, Ang Meng Gee of the
Workers' Party, and independent candidate Wong Chee Lim. At his first rally held at
Bencoolen Street, Jumabhoy attacked the PAP as out to "squeeze the capital out of the people" and did not bother to discuss the other candidates.
The Singapore Free Press's P. M. Raman stated that the "spotlight" was on Jumabhoy in Stamford and considered the constituency as a "testing ground for [the] SPA". During his campaign, Jumabhoy held road-side meetings and toured the area frequently. He upheld his party's policy and warned against voting for the PAP. In the results, Jumabhoy lost to Fung, who garnered 5,372 votes as compared to his 3,810 votes. Ang, Hooi, and Wong received 925, 679, and 136 votes, respectively. Following his defeat, he went back to working in his family's trading business. Speaking to
The Straits Times in 2007, Jumabhoy remarked that he was "never a politician" and expressed relief with returning to business. == Post-political career ==