What was the major significance of the Great Contract? In 1609, just six years into James' reign as king, he faced major financial trouble.

However, the King and Parliament spent a long time negotiating the sum, by which time, many MPs, and even the King, began to have serious doubts about the contract. The Commons were shocked by the sum and many MPs living outside of London were not really affected by wardship and purveyance. They feared the independence that James would have from Parliament if he got a set amount every year. James also had doubts, as he would lose the political control he had over the gentry he gained from wardship and there were serious drawbacks to having a fixed sum due to inflation. Due to these doubts, both sides drew back until the Contract fell through.

A direct consequence of this was Salisbury's loss of power. This was a great loss to James as most historians see Salisbury as a very competent accountant and politician. Salisbury's loss was the Earl of Northampton's gain. Power began to drift towards the Howard faction, led by Northampton. In response to their Catholic links, another oppositional faction grew up led by Edward Coke and the Archbishop of Canterbury. James seemed content to allow this blatant factionalism as he thought he could manipulate both factions by balancing favours. It is clear that this was a miscalculation. This tactic led to the government being split and lacking clear direction and purpose, the results of which were further debt and increased corruption in the court.

The failure of the Great Contract also led directly to the dissolution of Parliament in 1611. After the contract was discarded Parliament and the King argued about the King's rights and finances until James dissolved Parliament in1611. Parliament was barely consulted again until 1621, with the brief exception of the 1614 "Addled" Parliament. Many MPs became increasingly suspicious of the King's motives and thought he may try and do away with Parliament altogether. The corruption of the court and James' obvious favouritism did little to endear him to the Commons. In the long term, this whole episode soured relationships between James and subsequent Parliaments.

On the whole, the failure of the Great Contract was damaging to James mainly because of the increased factionalism of the government. This was the most important outcome of the failure of the Great Contract because it led to a government without clear objectives. This reflected badly on James and angered the Commons.