Official_portrait_of_Lord_Campbell_of_Pittenweem Photo: Roger Harris CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Before politics Ming Campbell had successful careers as an international athlete and as a highly regarded Queens Counsel specialising in criminal law. He became one of the most consistent, solid and reliable Liberal advocates over the past fifty years. He himself described his commitment to Liberalism as deriving as much from instinct as from reason and he recounted how from the age of fifteen he found himself instinctively taking a Liberal stance on all the key political issues, from opposing Suez in 1956, through being appalled by British colonial policy in Central Africa in the early 1960s and supporting Scottish home rule as part of a federal UK within a united Europe and a better managed United Nations underpinning peace and security. From early on in his student life at Glasgow University from 1959 he gained a great reputation as a highly skilful orator and debater.
However his Liberalism was not confined to intellectual pursuits and he accepted office in the Scottish Liberal Party and was the unsuccessful Liberal candidate in the Greenock and Port Glasgow constituency at the two parliamentary election in 1974. Two years letter he moved to become the prospective for the East Fife constituency, a seat with a Liberal tradition going back over sixty years to the time of Asquith as its MP. In the difficult election of 1979 he came second. Then, with typical persistence, he increased his campaigning in the new North East Fife constituency almost winning the seat in 1983. In 1987 at his fifth election he gained the seat and then held it at every election until his retirement in 2015. It says a great deal for his impact there that it has been held ever since by another brilliant Liberal: Wendy Chamberlain.
Ming’s key specialism was foreign affairs on which he was the party’s distinguished spokesman and on which he was widely acknowledged to be an expert. He was regularly asked to comment on radio and television. As its spokesman he led the party’s principled opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Sometime after the key vote I asked him how he managed to get every Liberal MP to be present and to vote against the war - the only party with such a record. He responded that it was very straightforward: I simply advised them that an invasion would be contrary to international law and for Liberals that was sufficient.
In 2003 Ming became the party’s Deputy Leader under Charles Kennedy. Sadly Kennedy suffered from alcoholism and inevitably he was increasingly erratic and prone to intermittent absences. In such circumstances Ming provided a crucial gravitas and stability. In 2006 Kennedy realised he could not continue and Ming was elected leader against Chris Huhne and Simon Hughes with a substantial majority on the second ballot. He immediately steadied a party that had been struggling to maintain a reputation as a serious and purposeful presence. However, he was not temperamentally suited to the rough house of the House of Commons and he struggled to portray himself as a serious and thoughtful party leader, particularly at Prime Ministers’ questions. Although such ageism was completely illegitimate, bit by bit his age became an issue, particularly when a much more youthful David Cameron became Conservative leader. Ming was typically generous in deciding that the age question was hampering the party and, when in 2006 Gordon Brown put off an expected general election, Ming resigned the leadership, bring succeeded by Nick Clegg who was 26 years younger. There is however a strong argument that, had his party been determined enough in its support rather than treating him so very illiberally, Ming’s maturity and judgement could well have had a powerful appeal to an electorate facing extreme economic problems.
He retired as an MP at the 2015 election and was immediately made a Life Peer as Lord Campbell of Pittenweem. In the House of Lords he maintained his distinguished and respected contributions particularly on foreign affairs. His wife Elspeth who was a great companion and supporter died in 2023. Ming died, aged 84, on 26 September 2025.
The Liberal Democrats owe a great deal to Ming Campbell for his over half a century of consistent and dedicated service, for his significant intellectual advocacy of the Liberal position and for his role as the party’s leader at a particularly difficult and stressful time. His obituaries in the national press pay tribute to his contributions in other, less political spheres and detail his many honours.
