Remembering Ming

Ed Davey’s tribute to Ming Campbell in the House of Commons on 14th October 2025

I want to let the House into a secret about Ming Campbell: he was obsessed with sport. As you might expect from someone who was the captain of the Scottish men’s team at the Commonwealth Games.

I remember Ming talking about how he had been captivated by the 1948 London Olympics at the age of seven – listening to it with his mother. And how he’d decided back then that he wanted to run at a future Olympics.

It’s a dream so many young boys and girls have had at one point or another. But Ming, thanks to his determination, drive and work ethic, actually made it happen. He represented our country at the Tokyo Games in 1964.

For a man once known as the Flying Scotsman, who set a new British 100 metres record at 10.2 seconds, and who was probably the fastest person ever elected to this House – Ming was never one to brag about his sporting accomplishments.

In fact, he was such a gentleman – so averse to boastfulness – that it could be hard to get him to talk about them at all.

I remember when Wayne Rooney broke a metatarsal in his foot ahead of the 2006 World Cup. Ming had told us a story about how he had suffered an injury before the 1964 Olympic Games and how hard he’d worked to overcome it.

We were all begging him to go on the radio and tell that story and encourage Wayne Rooney – a rare chance for the Liberal Democrat Leader to break into the biggest sports story of the day – but Ming wouldn’t do it.

I have to admit it was frustrating at the time, but it was also a mark of why he was so respected and admired. That level of modesty is rare in anyone – especially in a politician. But those of us who knew Ming knew that it was simply the kind of man that he was.

It says a lot about Ming’s many and varied accomplishments that his extraordinary sporting achievements – being Britain’s fastest man and representing his country at the Olympics – won’t be what he is most remembered for.

Nor will he be most remembered for his law career – though he excelled at that too. He was even offered the chance to become a judge on Scotland’s High Court in 1996. But he turned it down because by then – as he put it – politics had got in his blood.

And so, what Ming will most be remembered for is his enormous contribution to British politics. A parliamentary career spanning five decades, including 28 years representing North East Fife.

I got to know him early during his first Parliament, when I was the party’s economics adviser based in our whips’ office.

Even then, he already had so much gravitas. He was so charming, so thoughtful and so respected. Ming was among those few MPs who was genuinely a grandee from the first day they are elected.

But his calmness, reasonableness and intense decency masked a radical politician.

A man who never forgot his roots growing up in a Glasgow tenement, and who was driven by a deep commitment to social justice.

A man who said it was his role – and the role of Liberal Democrats – to “rattle the cage of British politics”. And he did.

Especially when it came to foreign affairs and defence – on which he led for our party for over 18 years. Including, of course, in the lead up to, and after, the Iraq War.

I remember how difficult a decision it was for us to oppose that war. It felt like we were going, not just against the government, but taking on the full might of the British state – and the United States too.

The way Ming tackled it – with his typically steady, forensic, lawyerly approach – gave us both the confidence and resolve to speak up strongly for what we believed. He made our position firmly rooted in respect for international law.

At a time when the world was in turmoil, following those horrific terrorist attacks of September the 11th, Ming provided principled leadership with his trademark combination of morality, courage and wisdom.

And he continued to do so – whether as Leader of our party, a respected member of the Intelligence and Security Committee and the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, and in the other place.

I benefited greatly from Ming’s advice and guidance over more than 30 years, and turned to him often about foreign affairs in my own time as Leader. I will miss his wise counsel, as I know many of us will.

But more than that, he was an incredibly warm and caring friend and colleague, with such generosity and humour.

He called his late wife Elspeth his rock, and she was always by his side – mostly with a cigarette. And they were such good fun and great company.

His passing is a moment for us to consider how we all are viewed as politicians and what changes we could make, both individually and collectively, to further the cause of good, decent, hopeful politics – something that Ming embodied entirely.

Ming Campbell was a dedicated public servant, a tireless champion for Fife, St Andrews and the United Kingdom, and a true Liberal giant

I know all of us in the Liberal Democrat family and across this House will miss him terribly.