One hundred years ago this month, Glasgow-born Liberal Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman died.

Campbell-Bannerman was the first man to be officially known as the “Prime Minister” and he won one of the biggest landslide victories of the 20th century as head of the famous Liberal Government of 1906. His Cabinet included three future Prime Ministers, Asquith, Lloyd George and Winston Churchill.

He was also the first Glasgow-born Prime Minister, and was brought up and educated in the city. He was a former pupil of the High School of Glasgow.

Now a bid has been launched to commemorate Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman in his native city. Glasgow Liberal Democrat MSP Robert Brown has written to the Lord Provost of Glasgow, urging him to mark Sir Henry’s Association with the City.

Speaking from Glasgow, Robert Brown said:

“Sir Henry was one of Glasgow’s most famous sons and much loved in his day. A hugely successful Prime Minister and a radical and noted critic of the Boer War, he memorably described the conflict as being carried on by “methods of barbarism”.

“His father, Sir James Campbell was himself Lord Provost of Glasgow, and his brother James Alexander Campbell was MP for Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities.

“Yet, apart from a plaque in the High School, there is no memorial to Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman in Glasgow although there is a statue in Stirling where he was MP for 40 years.

“Statues are now rather out of fashion, but I think it would be appropriate if there was a suitable plaque erected near his former homes at either 129 Bath Street where he lived until 1860, or 6 Claremont Gardens where he lived after his marriage in 1860 until 1886. Another option is the site of the family business at 29 Ingram Street.

“Sir Henry’s Government and its Liberal successors were in power from 1905 to 1915. They laid the foundation for much we now take for granted – old age pensions, school meals and other social and welfare legislation in particular. The Government was widely regarded as one of the most constructive and radical of the century.

“It is surprising that Sir Henry’s life has not been marked by a permanent memorial in the city of Glasgow. The centenary of his death is a good time to put that right.”