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Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, (; born 22 May 1941), often known as Ming Campbell, is a British politician, advocate and former athlete. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife from 1987 to 2015 and served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2006 to 2007.
Campbell held the British record for the 100-metre sprint from 1967 to 1974, having run the distance in 10.2 seconds. He captained the Great Britain athletics team in 1965–66. He has been Chancellor of the University of St Andrews since 2006 and a member of the House of Lords as a life peer since 2015.
Campbell was twice the British 220 yards champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1964 AAA Championships and 1967 AAA Championships.
Campbell promoted many younger MPs to his frontbench team including former MEP Nick Clegg as Home Affairs spokesperson and 26-year-old Jo Swinson as Scotland spokesperson.
According to polls published in July 2006, twice as many voters preferred Charles Kennedy as leader over Campbell, which led to further criticism of Campbell's leadership. Kennedy receives popularity boost BBC News, 19 July 2006 However, Kennedy called rumours that he was considering challenging for the leadership as "fanciful". Kennedy denies leadership reports BBC News, 30 July 2006
The University of St Andrews awarded an honorary doctorate of law to former President Mohammad Khatami of Iran, which sparked some criticism, although as Chancellor he is only the titular head and not involved in such decisions. The dishonouring of St Andrews Times Online, 25 October 2006 It isn't just Bono's U2 who are talking through their hat about tax avoidance Guardian Unlimited, 22 October 2006 Khatami's UK visit to bring tirade from Iran Guardian Unlimited, 5 October 2006 Khatami was elected as President of Iran in 1997 and 2001, both occasions on platforms of social and political reform and a "Dialogue Among Civilizations" that put Khatami significantly at odds with his conservative successor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Shortly before Gordon Brown took over as prime minister in June 2007, Campbell was invited to a meeting with the then Chancellor of the Exchequer. Brown surprised Campbell by requesting that two Liberal Democrats (Paddy Ashdown and Lady Neuberger) join his cabinet. After taking 24 hours to consult and consider, Campbell rejected the offer as unworkable, given the gulf between the parties on issues of foreign policy and civil liberties. Labour leaked news of the meeting to the media and went behind Campbell to offer the job of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to Ashdown anyway; he turned it down. Lib Dem anger over Brown tricks BBC News, 21 June 2007
After intense speculation in late 2007, Gordon Brown announced there would be no general election in 2007. Following this announcement, Campbell's leadership again came under question, with some in the party feeling that now the heat was off the time was ripe to get a younger leader potentially more capable of connecting with voters. On 15 October, Campbell's deputy Vince Cable conceded on BBC Radio 4's The World at One programme that Campbell's position was "certainly under discussion", adding "I don't think it's under threat", but on the same programme party stalwart Sir Chris Clarke advised Campbell to "go with dignity and go back to being foreign affairs spokesman, where the world listens to you."Michael White, Michael White's Political Blog for 15 October 2007 at guardian.co.uk Later the same day came an announcement by the party that Campbell would step down as leader. Sir Ming warned as Lib Dems hunt poll boost Daily Telegraph Lib Dem leader may face challenge as poll ratings drop , Guardian.co.uk; accessed 12 February 2016.
Cable became acting leader of the Liberal Democrats until a leadership election could be held. Liberal Democrat leader resigns 15 October 2007 Campbell became the first elected leader of the Liberal Democrats who left the leadership without ever leading the party to a general election. Following the resignation, a leadership contender, Nick Clegg, alleged that Campbell had been a victim of ageism throughout his term as party leader, saying he had been treated "appallingly" and subject to "barely disguised ageism".
Concerns about ageism directed at Campbell from the media had also been raised by the charity Age Concern in September 2006. Gordon Lishman, the director of the charity, said "the recent media coverage poking fun at Sir Menzies has brought to light the age discrimination that is epidemic in the media and society". Attacking media coverage that seemed to focus on his age, Lishman added "clearly the media needs to update its attitudes and get with the times; people are living and working longer and age discrimination is out dated".
There was speculation in 2013 that he would be offered a seat in the House of Lords – an opportunity in which, during an interview with Chat Politics, Campbell declared his interest. He became a life peer and a member of the House of Lords in October 2015. Campbell has stated that he believes the House of Lords should be "mainly elected" and will continue to promote that idea "within the house itself."
Campbell's primary area of interest is acknowledged to be foreign policy. He strongly supports multilateral institutions such as the European Union and the United Nations but argues that the European Union must reform to become more democratic and the United Nations must develop new mechanisms for dealing with humanitarian crises. Full text: Sir Menzies Campbell's speech to the Lib Dem conference Guardian Unlimited, 19 September 2005
He has been critical of what he claims as the "disproportionate military action" employed by the Israeli Defence Force in Gaza Strip and in Lebanon, contending that Israel's tactics exacerbate existing tensions and lead to human rights abuses. Though a supporter of Anglo-American cooperation, Campbell has argued that the Bush-Tony Blair relationship was one-sided and that the Labour government pursued it at the expense of Britain's standing in other international institutions, particularly the EU and UN.
Campbell had stressed the need for the Liberal Democrats to provide extra support for female, disabled and ethnic minority candidates seeking to contest winnable seats. Menzies Campbell's speech on liberal Britain Guardian Unlimited, 8 June 2006
In July 2007, Campbell unveiled tax proposals that amounted to a large shift in the tax burden away from low-income and middle-income earners and onto higher-earners and pollution. This was to be implemented by cutting the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 16%, closing £13.5 billion of tax loopholes for high-earners and imposing larger green taxes on polluters. Campbell said of the proposals that "the unacceptable reality is that in Britain today the poorest pay a higher proportion of their income in tax than the super-rich" and that his aim was for "the rich and people with environmentally damaging lifestyles to pay a fairer share".
Campbell is a member of the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation, established in October 2009.
In August 2018, Campbell spoke at a People's Vote rally in Edinburgh. People's Vote was a campaign group calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for public and political service. He was nominated for a in the 2015 Dissolution Honours and created Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, of Pittenweem in the County of Fife, on 13 October 2015.
Campbell has honorary degrees from the University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde. He was the only person nominated to succeed Sir Kenneth Dover after he retired as Chancellor of the University of St Andrews on 1 January 2006, so took office immediately after nominations closed on 9 January 2006. He was installed as Chancellor on 22 April 2006, at which time he also received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.
In 2010 it was reported that Campbell had been considered for the post of High Commissioner to Australia; The Guardian claimed it had been stalled as it would trigger a by-election in Campbell's constituency.
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