of Christmas Island to the Government of Australia at a low price, under the request of the British Government, and also the insistence of extending the validity of the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance. There was a rapid decline in support for the Lim's LF due to several other factors: His government was not able to crack down the rapid growth of secret societies, and gang fights occurred frequently, resulting in the deterioration of law and order; The lives of the people had not improved and there was no economic growth; The PAP exposed Chew Swee Kee, the then-Education Minister in early 1959 for being alleged of accepting large sums of money. Conversely, under the leadership of Chairman Toh Chin Chye and Secretary-General Lee Kuan Yew, the PAP, then opposition, won the support of the people by accusing the LF as being the puppet of the British Government. After a major restructure, the City Council held its first election in 1957; The PAP won 13 out of 32 seats while the LF won only four. In the following year, the LF was defeated once again by the PAP in the Kallang by-election held in July. In November 1958, Lim founded the Singapore People's Alliance (SPA), with himself as chairman. However, he failed in his attempts to re-gain support from the people. Under the new constitution, the legislature was officially dissolved on 31 March 1959. An election was held on 30 May of the same year, where all 51 seats in the Assembly will be popularly elected. In this election, 43 out of 51 PAP candidates were elected; Lim-led SPA had only four out of 34 candidates elected; the United Malays National Organisation won three seats, while the remaining seat was won by an independent candidate. The Liberal Socialist Party (led by E. H. Holloway), the Workers' Party (led by David Marshall) and the LF (led by Francis Thomas) did not win any seats. On 3 June 1959, he officially stepped down as Chief Minister. The British officially proclaimed the establishment of the State of Singapore, marking the end of British colonial rule. PAP's Secretary-General Lee Kuan Yew was sworn in on 5 June as the first Prime Minister of Singapore, where Singapore came under full internal self-governance. Political involvement in the Federation Lim won the Cairnhill seat in the Legislative Assembly election of 1959 and despite serving as the Leader