World mourns passing of Sir Menzies Campbell, Liberal Democrat elder statesman

The world mourns the passing of Sir Menzies Campbell, a Liberal Democrat elder statesman whose career was defined by civility, a rigorous legal mind and a multilateral approach to foreign policy. In a political era marked by rancor and instinctive partisanship, his public life stood out for courtesy, integrity and what contemporaries described as a principled steadiness.

Sir Menzies Campbell served as the MP for North East Fife from 1987 and spent 14 years on the party's foreign affairs frontbench, later adding the defence brief. He led the Liberal Democrats from 2006 to 2007 following Charles Kennedy’s resignation, steering the party through a difficult period of internal tensions. In 2015 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, a post from which he continued to press on foreign policy and humanitarian issues for years. He also served as chancellor of the University of St Andrews for 19 years, a role that reflected his long-standing ties to Scotland and the education sector.

Campbell's foreign policy instincts reflected the decade he came of age in: cautious about unchecked American power, inclined toward multilateral institutions, and attentive to the rights and welfare of people in the developing world. He believed in universal human rights but argued for regional stability and rigorous legal norms when considering intervention. In the run-up to the Iraq War, Campbell urged the Labour government to seek another United Nations resolution with clear obligations for Saddam Hussein, warning that if deadlines were missed or inspections obstructed, military action might be necessary. He opposed the invasion as precipitous and ill-judged, and his early questions to ministers signaled a deeper concern for reconstruction and international law.

Over the years he pressed ministers from both Labour and Conservative governments, drawing on his legal training to insist on hard evidence and careful analysis rather than headlines. His willingness to challenge decisions on foreign policy without personal rancor earned him respect even from opponents and contributed to a traditional liberal case for a rules-based international order.

Before politics, Campbell built a career as an athlete and scholar. He studied at Glasgow and Stanford universities and broke a half-century 300 meters record once held by Wyndham Halswelle; he competed in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1966 Kingston Commonwealth Games, becoming a two-time Amateur Athletic Association champion. The press nicknamed him the Flying Scotsman, and he later recalled racing a then-unknown O.J. Simpson during an American tour. He chose law as a profession, entering Parliament in 1987 after defeating the Tory incumbent Barry Henderson in a contest that helped shift Scottish representation in Westminster. His early years in Parliament foreshadowed a long tenure as a public intellectual on foreign policy.

St Andrews remained a central thread in his life. He maintained a long association with the university, eventually serving as its chancellor for nearly two decades. In Parliament, his last interventions in the Lords, in 2023, focused on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, reflecting the continuity of his lifelong concern for international law and human welfare.

His personal life was inseparable from his public one. He was devoted to Elspeth Campbell, the daughter of Major General Roy Urquhart, and the couple were married for 53 years before Elspeth died in 2023. She was widely regarded as an adviser in her own right and a steady partner who helped shape his approach to politics and public service. In the end, death closed the chapter with a sense of reunion, as the couple’s long partnership was acknowledged by colleagues and friends.

Even as the global liberal order faces strains from shifting power dynamics and rising polarization, Campbell’s example—an adherence to principle, courtesy and rigorous analysis—serves as a benchmark for public service. His life, a long course of public service conducted with dignity and respect for opponents, is characterized by a stubborn belief in the value of international law, human rights and multilateral cooperation.