report: salad days – merger twenty years on and the shambolic process by believed that any Liberal member As a radical Liberal, he was which it came about has seemed could ‘walk in and vote’ at the Lib- endorsed enthusiastically by the less important with the passage eral Assembly, in fact this was never Dunfermline Press; his oppo- of time. true; just like the SDP (and the nent, John Ramsay, a Whiggish Liberal Democrat) the Liberal Party Liberal, was endorsed equally Neil Stockley is director of a public possessed a representative formula, enthusiastically by the Stirling affairs company and a frequent con- allocating delegate places per con- Advertiser. Seven months later, tributor to the Journal of Liberal stituency relating to membership – at the November 1868 general History. although the entitlement was more election and on an extended generous than in the SDP. franchise, Sir Henry defeated 1 Chris Cook, A Short History of the 3 Ian Hunter, ‘Old Liberals, New John Ramsay by over 500 votes Liberal Party 1900–1992 (Macmillan, Liberals and Social Democrats: the and remained MP for Stirling 1993). Liberal Democrats’ political heri- Burghs for the rest of his life. 2 As was pointed out from the tage,’ in Journal of Liberal History 37 The talk was supported by audience, although it was often (winter 2002–03), pp. 26–27. an excellent handout includ- ing a biographical chronology, details of Sir Henry’s constitu- ency election results, summa- rised Scottish and UK general Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman election results from 1868 to 1906, a selection of quotations Centenary Commemorations in Scotland (on all of which Dr Cameron Report by Dr Alexander S. Waugh commented) and a bibliography ranging from T.P. O’Connor’s 1908 memoir to Dr Cameron’s ir Henry was born (as church window above their own 2007 article. (Dr Cam- Henry Campbell) in Kel- grave is near the pew in the east eron’s critical comments on the Svinside, Glasgow on 7 gallery where they regularly 2006 biography of Sir Henry by September 1836. After education worshipped when at Belmont. Roy Hattersley (Campbell-Ban- at the High School of Glasgow, There is a plaque commemorat- nerman, Haus Publishing) were the University of Glasgow and ing Sir Henry inside the church much appreciated.) Trinity College, Cambridge, near the east gallery. Other topics discussed he married (Sarah) Charlotte included Sir Henry’s emer- Bruce on 13 September 1860. gence from a Tory background He was Liberal MP for Stirling Campbell-Bannerman (described as suspicious by Burghs (Stirling, Dunfermline, evening, 22 April the Stirling Advertiser in March Culross, Inverkeithing and The Meigle and District His- 1868); his (perhaps deliber- [South] Queensferry) from 20 tory Society held a Campbell- ately cultivated) image of self- November 1868 and, after jun- Bannerman evening in the effacement; Irish and Scottish ior ministerial office in 1871–74 Kinloch Memorial Hall, home rule and ‘home rule all and 1880–84, Chief Secretary Meigle on Tuesday, 22 April Other topics round’ (or federalism); the dis- for Ireland in 1884–85, Secre- 2008. With some eighty peo- establishment of the Church tary of State for War in 1886 ple in attendance, the speaker discussed of Scotland; the South African and 1892–95, Liberal Leader in was Dr Ewen A. Cameron, included War of 1899–1902; imperialism; the Commons from 6 February Senior Lecturer in Scottish free trade versus tariff reform; 1899 and Prime Minister from 5 History at Edinburgh Univer- Sir Henry’s extension of the franchise December 1905. He resigned as sity and a contributor to the (including votes for women); Prime Minister on 3 April 1908 Journal of Liberal History. His emergence land reform; and restricting the and died in 10 Downing Street talk followed much the same powers of the House of Lords. on 22 April. After a Memorial approach as in his article about from a Tory Also discussed was what would Service in Westminster Abbey Sir Henry in the Journal (issue background or would not have happened on 27 April, he was buried 54, spring 2007). However, if Sir Henry had lived longer alongside Lady Campbell-Ban- Dr Cameron also referred to (described as with reference to the careers nerman (died 30 August 1906) a number of other aspects of of Asquith, Lloyd George and beside Meigle Parish Church Sir Henry’s career during the suspicious by Churchill, the Irish dimension, (Perthshire) on 28 April. talk and in discussion. There the First World War, interaction Belmont Castle, half a was, for example, reference to the Stirling with Bonar Law (Conserva- mile from Meigle, was the Sir Henry’s unsuccessful can- Advertiser in tive Leader from 1911 and, like Campbell-Bannermans’ Scot- didature at the Stirling Burghs Sir Henry, a former pupil of tish home from 1887. The by-election in April 1868. March 1868). the High School of Glasgow),

38 Journal of Liberal History 59 Summer 2008 report: campbell-bannerman commemoration

Liberal-Labour relations and Top: at the Liberal election prospects. Campbell- Bannerman grave – Cllr Willie Centenary Commemoration, Wilson, Provost 27 April Depute of Perth & Kinross, Dr A Campbell-Bannerman Alexander S. Centenary Commemoration, Waugh, Sheila endorsed by the Liberal Demo- Waugh, Rev. Dr crat History Group, took place Malcolm Macrae in Meigle on Sunday 27 April. The day’s programme started Bottom: Sheila with morning worship in the Waugh handing Parish Church. The service was the wreath to Cllr taken by the Rev. John (Ian) W. Wilson Knox, a retired minister, who managed to mention Sir Henry in his introductory remarks and welcomes, children’s address, intercessory prayer and sermon. At one point Rev. Knox sug- gested that Sir Henry was a precursor of Sir William Bev- eridge’s social initiatives. We then visited Belmont Cas- tle which, as a listed building, is still much as reconstructed and refurbished for the Campbell- Bannermans in 1885–86. They of Meigle, starting with Grace which Sir Henry’s father, Sir acquired the Castle after much by the Rev. Dr. Malcolm H. James Campbell acquired in of it had been destroyed by fire MacRae, Meigle’s Interim 1847), followed with prayer and in 1884. It has been leased from Moderator (acting parish min- benediction by Dr MacRae, the Dundee Corporation by the ister) and concluding, as did and an expression of thanks to Church of Scotland as a home refreshments on the Tuesday all concerned by the Provost for senior citizens since 1931. evening, with buttered ginger- Depute, who had also under- We were welcomed by Dr Sue bread, with which Sir Henry taken similar courtesies at Bel- Marshall, Deputy Unit Manager, liked to end his meals. mont Castle and at lunch. who pointed out various features We then proceeded to the and memorabilia associated with Campbell-Bannerman grave the Campbell-Bannermans, beside the parish church. After Centenary Commemoration, including portraits. We were an introduction by Dr MacRae, 28 April then allowed to move freely and a biographical eulogy by Dr The Stirling Liberal Democrats between the main lounge and Sandy Waugh, a former pupil of organised a Centenary Com- the other public rooms and the High School of Glasgow and memoration at Sir Henry’s statue into the large hall (originally a a member of the Liberal Demo- in Stirling on the afternoon covered-in courtyard) and up its crat History Group, Dr Mac- of Monday, 28 April. Wreaths grand staircase. Rae read ‘Let Us Now Praise were laid by Nicol Stephen By reason of fire safety pre- Famous Men’ from Ecclesiasticus. MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrat cautions, there is no longer A wreath – featuring the old Leader, and Councillor Fergus direct access between the main Scottish Liberal colours of red Wood (SNP), Provost of Stirling. lounge and the hall. Thus we and yellow – was then laid by Among others present was Dr were unable to have an overall Liberal Democrat Councillor Elspeth King, Director of the view of the space (lounge and Willie Wilson, Provost Depute Stirling Smith Art Gallery and hall) which accommodated of Perth and Kinross. Museum which has a seascape over two hundred relatives and The programme concluded painting by the Scottish artist, T. public representatives (and some with the singing of Scottish Campbell Noble, purchased and four hundred wreaths) on the Metrical Psalm 23, ‘The Lord’s donated by Sir Henry in 1897. day of Sir Henry’s funeral. my Shepherd’, to the tune Stra- Its other Campbell-Bannerman Lunch followed in the Kin- cathro (named for the house and memorabilia are a posthumous loch Arms Hotel, in the centre estate in Forfarshire (Angus) banner proclaiming him as ‘One

Journal of Liberal History 59 Summer 2008 39 report: campbell-bannerman commemoration of Britain’s Greatest Statesmen’, Centenary Commemoration, both to be superficial and to a portrait sketch by Sir James High School of Glasgow omit explanations of key issues Guthrie, RSA and – arrayed The High School of Glasgow – and individuals (for example, with a wreath of daffodils to which has a bronze plaque of Sir although the Corn Laws are mark the centenary – a marble Henry by Benno Schotz, RSA referred to, there’s no explana- bust by Paul Raphael Montford. – will be having its own Cen- tion of what they were or why Sir James (another Glasgow tenary Commemoration in the their abolition was so con- High School former pupil) also autumn. Efforts are also contin- troversial). The level of detail painted, in 1907, the portrait uing to have a new commemo- provided is too shallow for any of Sir Henry in the Scottish rative plaque erected at a more reader who knows anything National Portrait Gallery. Paul public location in Glasgow. much about the background, Montford was responsible for but inadequate for those com- the bronze bust of Sir Henry in Dr Alexander (Sandy) S. Waugh is ing to it afresh. And the chapters Westminster Abbey (1911) and a member of the Liberal Democrat actually say very little about the the Stirling statue as unveiled by History Group and, like Campbell- internal workings of the coali- H. H. Asquith, then Prime Min- Bannerman, a former pupil of Glas- tions in question. ister, on 1 November 1913. gow High School. Even on its own terms this part of the book is pretty inco- herent. Having rightly observed that most of the coalitions tended to be unstable because they were formed in the midst of crises (and therefore had a limited range of issues on which the coalition reviews partners could agree), Oaten then criticises the Aberdeen Oaten’s aim coalition for not being formed in Analysing coalitions one, and therefore having noth- was to derive ing to bring it together. He does Mark Oaten: Coalition: The Politics and Personalities of lessons from not attempt to consider what else could plausibly have happened Coalition Government from 1850 (Harriman House, 2007) the history in the hung parliament delivered Reviewed by Duncan Brack by the 1852 election. He blames of coalition the coalition for the outbreak of the Crimean War (an accusation ark Oaten’s book Having said that, the book government Disraeli also levelled), but never caused a small stir is not entirely without value. in Britain explains why. Having stated at Mupon its publication, Oaten’s aim was to derive les- one point that Asquith’s large in September 2007, with its sons from the history of coali- and from war cabinet was not a prob- apparent call for the Liberal tion government in Britain and lem, he then argues that Lloyd Democrats to consider a post- from the rest of Europe, in the the rest of George’s much smaller one made election coalition with the belief – entirely reasonable in a key difference. And so on. Conservatives. In fact, that 2007, not so clear now – that the Europe, in Where Oaten provides conclusion is not put so starkly next election is likely to lead to the belief – a political viewpoint, it’s in the book itself – it stemmed a hung parliament. He aimed essentially a right-wing one. more from the article Oaten to look both at the process of entirely rea- Apparently the 1931 National wrote for The Times the week putting coalitions together and Government should have before publication (‘A Lib-Con the personalities that made them sonable in made bigger cutbacks in the pact? You shouldn’t rule it work, or fail. ‘vast sums being wasted on out’, 6 September 2007). One Five chapters thus exam- 2007, not so social security benefits’ – so conclusion, however, is clear ine Aberdeen’s Whig/Peelite clear now – much for Keynesianism, then. from reading this analysis of administration of 1852–55, Throughout, ideological dif- coalition government in Brit- Asquith’s and Lloyd George’s that the next ferences are sidelined; politics ain and abroad: it’s that if Mark wartime coalitions of 1915–16 is almost entirely about per- Oaten wants to forge a writing and 1916–18, Lloyd George’s election is sonalities. Where the coalition career after his departure from post-war coalition of 1918–22, leaders were weak, or where the Commons, he’ll have to the National Government of likely to lead they were strong but disagreed manage a great deal better than 1931–35 and Churchill’s war- to a hung with each other, the coalitions this superficial, incoherent and time coalition of 1940–45. failed; where they worked poorly written effort. Unfortunately they manage parliament. well together, the coalitions

40 Journal of Liberal History 59 Summer 2008