Henry Campbell-Bannerman

The Right Honourable Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman GCB
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(1908-04-22) (aged 71) 10 Downing Street, London, England
Resting place	Meigle Parish Church, Perthshire
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Charlotte Bruce ​ ​ (m. 1860; died 1906)​
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 politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. He also served as 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]