In order to rate how successful Henry Campbell-Bannerman was, his aims must be identified, and then measured against the results he achieved. As Campbell-Bannerman also has the added complication of becoming Prime Minister halfway his decade as leader, this must also be taken into account.

Henry Campbell originally came to be Liberal leader because he was seen to be acceptable to both sides of the 'Little Englander' versus Liberal Imperialist row within the party. He believed that both Harcourt (pro-Boer) and Rosebery (Limps) and their followers were extremists within the party, and that normal party members would be united by an attack on fundamental Liberal principles. He believed that the dispute over imperialism only went skin deep, and that the party could unite around the Newcastle Programme reforms.

The main problem with the Liberals from the 1890's to the victory in 1906 was the disunity caused by the split over the imperial issue. Campbell-Bannerman arguably solved this by uniting the rank and file of the party , and making his leadership unchallengeable. His methods of barbarism speech in 1901 made it clear that he was not in

However, there are also certain aspects of this period of his leadership that would seem to work against him. It could be argued that the fact that he was a member of the member of the pro-Boer faction undermined his credibility as a truly unbiased leader, (although his success at overriding these differences marks him as a good leader.) but he still managed to draw upon enough support to survive as leader. It is noticeable that his predecessors, Rosebery and Harcourt, could not call upon the same support when they were leaders.

Campbell-Bannerman's prime ministerial career must be included in answering the question of whether he was a successful leader or not. His administration introduced many reforms, that arose from their comparative unity. The reforms to the Army, detente with Russia, South African self government and repairing the damage done by the Taff Vale judgements against the trade unions are all reforms that one would expect from a Liberal government. Yet, many more reforms were blocked by the House of Lords, and this must be taken into account. Campbell-Bannerman was not as effective as he could have been as a Prime Minister because of this. As a Prime Minister, his style meant that many of his fiercest critics (the Limps) were allowed in to the cabinet, and he then more or less let them get on with their jobs. This could be interpreted as we

Some common words found in the essay are:
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