Lib Dem MP and peer with a passion for Scotland and its language

Ray Michie, Baroness Michie of Gallanach, was a respected Liberal Democrat who represented the party in both Houses. She died at the age of 74 on 6 May, 2008.

Colleagues were quick to pay tribute to Lady Michie who had been an MP for 14 years and then a life peer.

Former party leader Charles Kennedy said that her death "leaves public life much the poorer".

Janet Ray Michie, the daughter of Lord and Lady Bannerman of Kildonan, was born on 4 February, 1934. She was educated at Aberdeen High School for Girls and Lansdowne House in Edinburgh. She then trained in speech therapy in the city and embarked on a career in the field.

After entering politics, she rose to become vice-chairman of the Scottish Liberal Party. In 1987 she successfully contested the Argyll and Bute seat which would be hers until her retirement in 2001.

Serving as party spokeswoman on Scottish affairs, she became known as a passionate patriot and campaigned for the preservation of Gaelic – when she was given her life peerage in 2001 she took the oath of allegiance in the language, the first to do so.

She also served as vice-president of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and was affiliated to several Scottish trade unions. She was married to a consultant physician, had three children and lived in Oban on Scotland’s west coast.

Fellow Scot Charles Kennedy was among the first to pay tribute to her: "Alongside her personal charm and tremendous sense of humour and fun was a first-class political brain which was able to judge individuals and issues with great shrewdness. She was never taken in by exaggeration and had a knack of getting right to the genuine heart of the matter. Her advice was always worth having."

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen spoke of her patriotism: "She always fought tirelessly for her constituents and for Scotland. Ray was much loved by those inside and outside politics and will be very greatly missed."

Her successor as MP for Argyll and Bute, Alan Reid, said her constituents would "always have a special place in their hearts for Ray Michie."