Lord Ming Campbell, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, has died at the age of 84.
Sir Ed Davey described Lord Campbell as "a dedicated public servant, a tireless champion for Fife, St Andrews and the UK, and a true Liberal giant".
The former MP for North East Fife, served as Lib Dem leader between 2005 and 2006, passed away in London after a period of respite care, the party said.
In a statement, Sir Ed said: "With a parliamentary career spanning five decades, Ming Campbell was a dedicated public servant, a tireless champion for Fife, St Andrews and the UK, and a true Liberal giant.
"Like so many of us, I benefited greatly from Ming's advice and guidance over the many years we worked closely together. But more than that, he was an incredibly warm and caring friend and colleague, with such generosity and humour.
"All of us in the Liberal Democrat family and beyond will miss him terribly. Our thoughts are with all who loved him."
Walter Menzies “Ming” Campbell was on May 22, 1941 while in an air raid shelter in Glasgow.
He attended Hillhead High School, where he won a place at Glasgow University alongside future Labour leader John Smith and inaugural Scottish first minister Donald Dewar.
It was while studying law that he represented Team GB as a runner at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics where he was dubbed the “flying Scotsman”.
During the 1970s, he expressed an interest in politics and became chairman of the Scottish Liberal Party and in 1987 was elected as MP for North East Fife on his fourth time of asking.
He stood down from the Commons at the 2015 general election and was elevated to the House of Lords.
The peer’s family said he spent his final days watching the Liberal Democrats party conference in Bournemouth and enjoyed watching video messages from friends.
His wife of more than half a century, Elspeth, who he described as his "constant political companion” died in June 2023.
Paying tribute to her grandfather, grandchild Gregor Grant-Suttie said: "“Ming achieved a lot through his life, across sport, law and politics. But the myriad of accolades and awards he collected in his professional life paled in comparison to his achievements as a husband, father figure, grandfather, and friend.
“He was a rare breed of Scotsman whose contribution and ideas spanned so much further than his home country's borders; his level of thinking around issues that were international, particularly around defence, gave Scotland the ability to be extremely proud of one of their own, whose ideas were so much larger than narrowly focused UK politics.
“He was of a generation where hard work and improving oneself through education were prioritised, while the modern day notion of relative standards versus others was alien to him — in every step of his life he only ever compared himself against his own exceptionally high standards.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said he was one of the "most respected politicians of his generation".
He said: "The first political thing I ever did was to deliver leaflets for Ming on the morning of his first election to Parliament in 1987.
"He was my MP, he was my mentor and he was my friend. From the Olympic track to the benches of Westminster, his contribution to public life will long be remembered."
