ABSTRACT
Reginald McKenna arrived at Westminster in the late summer of 1895 as another middle class professional in the late Victorian Commons' social—and, soon, political—transformation. McKenna reached the House of Commons on his second attempt. Real Liberal leadership in the Commons increasingly passed to the backbenchers, where the new men attacked the government with vigour, unencumbered as they were with the responsibilities of the front bench, where the likes of H. H. Asquith and John Morley sat and opposed, officially. McKenna's and Sir Charles Dilke's companionship outside the Commons immediately became a partnership inside it. With signs that the government was faltering, McKenna increased his campaigning, with by-elections a particular priority. While free trade focused McKenna's efforts, it also served to broaden his outlook. More constructively, in 1905 McKenna was member of the Committee of Selection, which appointed committees for private bills and members of standing committees.
