Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by George Charles Beresford, 1902 | |
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| In office 5 December 1905 – 3 April 1908 | |
| Monarch | Edward VII |
| Preceded by | Arthur Balfour |
| Succeeded by | H. H. Asquith |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 6 February 1899 – 5 December 1905 | |
| Monarchs | Victoria Edward VII |
| Prime Minister | Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour |
| Preceded by | William Vernon Harcourt |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Balfour |
| Leader of the Liberal Party | |
| In office 6 February 1899 – 22 April 1908 | |
| Preceded by | William Vernon Harcourt |
| Succeeded by | H. H. Asquith |
| Secretary of State for War | |
| In office 18 August 1892 – 21 June 1895 | |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery |
| Preceded by | Edward Stanhope |
| Succeeded by | Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne |
| In office 6 February 1886 – 20 July 1886 | |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook |
| Succeeded by | William Henry Smith |
| Chief Secretary for Ireland | |
| In office 23 October 1884 – 25 June 1885 | |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | George Otto Trevelyan |
| Succeeded by | William Hart Dyke |
| Additional positions | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Henry Campbell 7 September 1836 Kelvinside House, Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | 22 April 1908 (aged 71) 10 Downing Street, London, England |
| Resting place | Meigle Parish Church, Perthshire |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | |
| Education | University of Glasgow Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Profession | Merchant |
| Signature |  |
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman GCB PC (né Campbell; 7 September 1836 – 22 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. He also was Secretary of State for War twice, in the cabinets of Gladstone and Rosebery. He was the first First Lord of the Treasury to be officially called the "Prime Minister", the term only coming into official usage five days after he took office. He remains the only person to date to hold the positions of Prime Minister and Father of the House at the same time, and the last Liberal leader to gain a UK parliamentary majority.
Known colloquially as "CB", Campbell-Bannerman firmly believed in free trade, Irish Home Rule and the improvement of social conditions, including reduced working hours. A. J. A. Morris, in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, called him "Britain's first and only Radical prime minister".[1] Following a general-election defeat in 1900, Campbell-Bannerman went on to lead the Liberal Party to a landslide victory over the Conservative Party at the 1906 general election – the last election in which the Liberals gained an overall majority in the House of Commons.[2] The government he subsequently led passed legislation to ensure trade unions could not be liable for damages incurred during strike action, introduced free school meals for all children, and empowered local authorities to purchase agricultural land from private landlords. Campbell-Bannerman resigned as prime minister in April 1908 due to ill-health and was replaced by his chancellor, H. H. Asquith. He died 19 days later – the only prime minister to die in the official residence, 10 Downing Street.[3][2]
- ^ A. J. A. Morris, 'Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836–1908)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 29 March 2009.
- ^ a b Macpherson, Hamish (5 September 2021). "Back in the day – Remembering Glasgow's only PM and the last to die in Number 10". Sunday National. p. 11 in SevenDays supplement. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ "HH Asquith (1852–1928)".