22 May 1941 - 26 Sep 2025 (84 years)

Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, was a British politician, advocate and athlete. A senior figure in the Liberal Democrats, he served as Member of Parliament for North East Fife from 1987 to 2015 and led the party from 2006 to 2007. He held prominent frontbench roles in foreign affairs and defence, and was Deputy Leader under Charles Kennedy.

Before entering politics, Campbell was a distinguished sprinter, captaining the Great Britain athletics team in the mid-1960s and holding the British 100 metre record from 1967 to 1974. He studied law at the University of Glasgow and Stanford University, and was called to the Scottish Bar, later becoming Queen's Counsel.

Campbell was appointed Chancellor of the University of St Andrews in 2006 and made a life peer in 2015, serving in both roles until his death in 2025.

He was a sprinter at university and he broke Olympic gold medalist Wyndham Halswelle's 53-year-old Scottish 300 yards record in 1961. Campbell competed for the Great Britain team in the 200 metres and 4×100 metres relay at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and captained the Scotland team at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. He also captained the Great Britain athletics team in 1965 and 1966, and held the British 100 metres record from 1967 to 1974. At one time he was known as "the fastest white man on the planet", running the 100m in 10.2 seconds twice during 1967. In his first 10.2-second race he beat O. J. Simpson, who was then an aspiring athlete.

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 married Elspeth, Lady Grant-Suttie, daughter of Major General Roy Urquhart and ex-wife of Sir Philip Grant-Suttie, 8th Baronet, in June 1970. The couple had no children, but Lady Campbell had a son from her first marriage. Lady Campbell died on 5 June 2023, aged 83.

Campbell died at a care facility in London, on 26 September 2025, at the age of 84. Following his death, tributes were paid across political and academic communities, with the University of St Andrews lowering its flags to half-mast in his honour. Scottish First Minister John Swinney described Campbell as "one of the most distinguished and well-liked political figures of his generation".