Former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell dies aged 84

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell has died at the age of 84.

Sir Menzies, or Ming as he was widely known, led the Liberal Democrats from 2006 to 2007 and was the MP for North East Fife at Westminster for 28 years.

He first stood as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats seat in 1976, but did not win his constituency for 11 years.

In his first career as a sprinter, he held the UK 100m record from 1967 to 1974 and ran in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics – being dubbed The Flying Scotsman.

Born Walter Menzies Campbell on 22 May 1941, he was brought up in a Glasgow tenement.

He attended Stanford University in California during the Vietnam War and later became an advocate.

Sir Menzies was called to the Scottish bar in 1968 and made a QC (latterly KC) in 1982. The law gave him a lucrative career and he continued to practise throughout his time in politics.

He made his name as the party’s foreign affairs spokesman, a position he held for 14 years and was a renowned critic of the Iraq war.

He became a member of the House of Lords in 2015. His official title was Baron Campbell of Pittenweem.

His wife of more than 50 years, Elspeth, died in June 2023 – he described her as his “constant political companion, always my encouragement and forever my first line of defence”.