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Sir Walter Menzies Campbell (known as '''Ming Campbell''' and Old Father Time ), CBE , QC , MP (born 22 May 1941 , Glasgow ) is a Scottish Advocate and the Liberal Democrat Member Of Parliament for North East Fife . He was elected leader of the Liberal Democrat party on 2 March 2006 . " originally included in the name. EARLY LIFE Menzies Campbell was educated at Hillhead High School , Glasgow, and the University Of Glasgow , graduating MA and LL.B . Campbell's contemporaries at the University Of Glasgow included Lord Irvine , the former Lord Chancellor , Donald Dewar and John Smith , who attempted to recruit him for the Labour Party . He was elected President of the Glasgow University Union and later received a scholarship to Stanford University , California . A successful Sprinter at University, he competed for the Great Britain And Northern Ireland Team in the 200 m at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and captained the Scotland Team at the 1966 British Empire And Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica . He also captained the UK athletics team in 1965 and 1966, and held the British 100 Metres record from 1967 to 1974. He qualified as an Advocate before he became a politician. He was admitted to the Faculty Of Advocates in 1968 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1982. Campbell married Elspeth, Lady Suttie , daughter of Major General Roy Urquhart , in June 1970. They have no children. {Link without Title} POLITICAL CAREER He became chairman of the Scottish Liberals in 1975 , and was a candidate at various General Elections between 1974 and 1983. After three failed attempts, he was finally elected as Member of Parliament, for North East Fife , in 1987. He was made the Liberal Democrat chief spokesman on foreign affairs and defence in 1992, and he has served as a Shadow Foreign Secretary since the Liberal Democrats decided to operate a Shadow Cabinet in 1997. He considered standing as a candidate to replace Paddy Ashdown as party leader in The 1999 Leadership Election but ultimately decided against. He later said that he regretted that decision "for about 10 minutes a day". He was also spoken of as a candidate for Speaker when Betty Boothroyd stood down in 2000. He was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma , a form of Cancer , in 2002 and underwent a course of intensive Chemotherapy before going on to make a full recovery. Campbell replaced Alan Beith as Deputy Leader Of The Liberal Democrats In February 2003 and on occasion had to act as a stand-in Leader of the party. He took over in the general election campaign for three days from 12 April 2005 when Charles Kennedy took Paternity Leave , and from 7 January 2006 he was the interim Leader following Kennedy's resignation, before winning the subsequent leadership contest. Despite his relatively advanced age compared to the leaders of the other two main parties, Tony Blair and David Cameron , he started as the front-running candidate in the 2006 Leadership Election following the resignation of Charles Kennedy, brought about because of a (long denied) alcohol problem, having been backed by more than a third of Lib Dem MPs and party notables such as David Steel , Shirley Williams and Paddy Ashdown . As the race drew on it appeared that Chris Huhne , initially the outsider, had more popular support and became favourite with the Bookmakers {Link without Title} , but Campbell went on to win the leadership election with 57% of the second round votes. LEADER OF THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS On the is composed of many young new MP's, with one, Jo Swinson , spokesman on Scottish Affairs , only 26 years of age. HONOURS Campbell was appointed CBE in the 1987 New Years Honours List ; he became a Privy Counsellor in the 1998 New Year Honours; and he was awarded a Knighthood in the 2004 New Year Honours for "services to Parliament ". He has Honorary Degree s from Glasgow and Strathclyde universities. He was the only person nominated to succeed Sir Kenneth Dover after he retired as Chancellor of St Andrews University on 1 January 2006 , so took office immediately after nominations closed on 9 January 2006 . He was installed as Chancellor on the 22 April 2006 , at which time he also received the honorary degree of Doctor Of Laws . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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