I declare in the strongest terms that I am, above all things, a loyal son of the House of Commons, and that I place before all interests, even the interest of the great historic party to which I am proud to belong, the maintenance and the advancement of the name and fame and power of the great Assembly to which we all belong.
Speech in the Reform Club to the meeting of Liberal members of the House of Commons, where Campbell-Bannerman was selected leader of the Liberal Party (6 February 1899), quoted in The Times (7 February 1899), p. 10