Alistair Carmichael

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office
  • Exiting the European Union
    • 2017–present[b]Northern Ireland Office
    2022-presentJustice
    Personal details
    Born
    Alexander Morrison Carmichael

    (1965-07-15) 15 July 1965 (age 58)
    LLB)
    Websitewww.alistaircarmichael.co.uk

    Alexander Morrison "Alistair" Carmichael[1] (born 15 July 1965) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Orkney and Shetland since 2001. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he currently serves as the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs, Northern Ireland and Justice spokesperson. He served as the Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2012 to 2021.

    Carmichael served as

    Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman. He was the only Scottish MP representing the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons
    during the 57th Parliament (2015–2017). He is the longest-serving Liberal Democrat MP in the current UK Parliament.

    Early life

    Carmichael was born to hill farming parents on

    Procurator Fiscal Depute for Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and from 1996 to 2001 he was a solicitor with Aberdeen and Macduff.[3]

    Political career

    Carmichael first stood for Parliament at Paisley South in 1987, being defeated by the sitting Labour MP, Norman Buchan.[6] He finished in second place, achieving 15.1% of the vote, which was down 9% from 1983.[7]

    At the 2001 general election, he was elected as the MP for Orkney and Shetland, succeeding the Liberal Democrat MP Jim Wallace, who had chosen to stand for the Scottish Parliament constituency of Orkney instead.[8] Carmichael won with 41.3% of the vote,[8] a decrease of 10.7% from the 1997 general election, and with a majority of 3,475, nearly half of the 6,968 majority won by Wallace in 1997.[9] One of the constituency's previous MPs was the Liberal Party leader Jo Grimond.

    Carmichael was re-elected at the 2005 general election with an increased vote share of 51.5% and an increased majority of 6,627.[10]

    Carmichael was appointed Liberal Democrat

    Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman, following the resignation of Mark Oaten
    .

    In June 2009, Carmichael was involved in a successful campaign against the book by Max Scratchmann, Chucking it All: How Downsizing to a Windswept Scottish Island Did Absolutely Nothing to Improve My Life, an irreverent account of the author's experience downshifting from Manchester to Orkney, which Carmichael said was "hurtful and vindictive", and attacked a number of "clearly identifiable" residents of the islands. Carmichael's complaints to the publisher led them to cancel publication.[13][14]

    Carmichael was re-elected at the

    Deputy Chief Whip and Comptroller of the Household
    .

    In 2011, Carmichael was elected Honorary President of the Scottish Liberal Democrats youth wing,

    Liberal Youth Scotland.[18]

    Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Secretary of State for Scotland

    Carmichael took over from Jo Swinson as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats on 23 September 2012 at the Annual Liberal Democrat Conference in Brighton.[19]

    In October 2013, he was promoted by

    UK Cabinet, replacing Michael Moore.[20]

    2015 general election

    Carmichael retained his seat at the 2015 general election, the only Liberal Democrat in Scotland out of 11 MPs elected in 2010 who managed to do so. He was re-elected, but saw his vote share decrease by 20.6%, and saw his majority cut from 9,928 to just 817.[21] Carmichael was one of only eight Liberal Democrat MPs returned to Parliament.

    Following the resignation of Nick Clegg as party leader, Alistair Carmichael took temporary charge of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons,[22] under the de facto leadership of Party President Sal Brinton.[23]

    Campaign memo and election petition

    On 4 April 2015, during the

    Scotland Office about comments allegedly made by the French ambassador Sylvie Bermann about Nicola Sturgeon, claiming that Sturgeon had privately stated she would "rather see David Cameron remain as PM", in contrast to her publicly stated opposition to a Conservative government.[24] The veracity of the memo was quickly denied by the French ambassador, French Consul General and Sturgeon herself.[25]

    At the time of the leak, Carmichael denied all knowledge of the leaking of the memo in a television interview with Channel 4 News.[26] After the election, Carmichael accepted the contents of the memo were incorrect, and admitted that he had lied, and that he had authorised the leaking of the inaccurate memo to the media. This was after a Cabinet Office enquiry identified Carmichael's role in the leak. The enquiry found phone records that proved Euan Roddin, Carmichael's Special Adviser, contacted the Telegraph on 1 April, two days before the story appeared.[27] Carmichael apologised and accepted that had he still been a government minister, this was a matter that would have "required [his] resignation".[28]

    Four electors from Orkney and Shetland lodged an election petition on 29 May 2015, the last date possible to do this following the general election on 7 May, attempting to unseat Carmichael and force a by-election.

    Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.[37]

    Personal life

    He married Kathryn Jane Eastham in 1987.[38] They have two sons (born in 1997 and 2001)[39] and the family reside in Orkney where she is a local veterinary surgeon.[40] He speaks French and German.[41] Carmichael is an elder in the Church of Scotland.[42]

    Notes

    1. ^ Role briefly covered by Michael Moore from 5 March 2008 to 7 October 2008 during Vince Cable's acting leadership.
    2. ^ Role briefly covered by Wendy Chamberlain from 6 January 2020 to 1 September 2020 during Ed Davey's acting leadership.

    References

    1. ^ Full name is given as "CARMICHAEL, Alexander Morrison, commonly known as Alistair Carmichael" in the returning officer's 2010 general election declaration Archived 17 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine
    2. ^ "Profile: Alistair Carmichael". BBC News. 7 October 2013. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
    3. ^ a b c "CARMICHAEL, Alexander Morrison, (Alistair)". Who's Who online edition. Oxford University Press. December 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
    4. ^ Alistair Carmichael (1 March 2008). "Speech to the Scottish Liberal Democrat spring conference in Aviemore". Scottish Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
    5. ^ "Alistair Carmichael MP: I am excited and inspired by the idea of having Ming as our leader". 13 February 2006. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
    6. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
    7. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
    8. ^ a b "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
    9. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
    10. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
    11. ^ Summers, Deborah (3 July 2007). "Campbell reshuffles frontbench". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
    12. ^ Lib Dem trio quit in referendum revolt – The Independent, 5 March 2006
    13. ^ "Orkney satire makes for pulp friction". Scotland on Sunday. 21 June 2009. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
    14. ^ Green, Chris (22 June 2009). "Shelved, the book that outraged the Orkneys". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 24 June 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
    15. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    16. ^ "Press Association Elections". pressassociation.com. Archived from the original on 4 May 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
    17. ^ "BBC News — Election 2010 - Constituency - Orkney & Shetland". bbc.co.uk.
    18. ^ "Alistair Carmichael". lyscotland.org. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015.
    19. ^ "BBC News – Alistair Carmichael new deputy leader of Scottish Lib Dems". BBC. 23 September 2012. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
    20. ^ Andrew Sparrow (7 October 2013). "Government and Labour reshuffle: Politics live blog | Politics". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
    21. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
    22. ^ "John Bercow to continue as Commons Speaker". 18 May 2015. Archived from the original on 21 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
    23. ^ Buchanan, Rose Troup (9 May 2015). "Every major British political party – except the Conservatives – currently led by a woman". The Independent. Independent Group. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
    24. ^ John, Simon (3 April 2015). "Nicola Sturgeon secretly backs David Cameron". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 April 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
    25. ^ Settle, Michael. "Carmichael caught in his own tangled web of deceit". The Herald. Glasgow. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
    26. ^ "Video of Alistair Carmichael interview by Channel 4". Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
    27. ^ ""Carmichael faces ethics inquiry as demands grow for him to quit as MP", Herald Scotland, 24 May 2015". Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
    28. ^ Tim Reid (22 May 2015). "Alistair Carmichael admits Nicola Sturgeon memo leak". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
    29. ^ Carmichael facing legal challenge as campaigners raise £43,000 Archived 6 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine the Herald, 29 May 2015
    30. ^ "Alistair Carmichael legal campaign reaches £60,000 target". BBC News. 9 June 2015. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
    31. ^ Standards watchdog to investigate Carmichael memo leak Archived 28 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine BBC News 2 June 2015
    32. ^ "Carmichael probe dropped over Frenchgate remit issue". Scottish Legal News. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.]
    33. ^ "Alistair Carmichael case: Legal bid to oust Lib Dem MP fails". BBC News. 9 December 2015. Archived from the original on 9 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
    34. ^ "Alistair Carmichael: election court throws out attempt to unseat MP". The Guardian. 9 December 2015. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
    35. ^ "Alistair Carmichael faces £150,000 bill after attempt to oust him". The Guardian. 8 February 2016. Archived from the original on 9 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
    36. ^ "Willie Rennie: 'I gave money to Alistair Carmichael's legal fund'". The Herald. Glasgow. 3 April 2016. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
    37. ^ Russell, Greg (26 March 2016). "They should donate money to the people of Orkney and Shetland – not a self-confessed liar". The National. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
    38. ^ "VOTE 2001". BBC News. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
    39. ^ Andrew, Louise (7 October 2013). "Profile: Alistair Carmichael". BBC News. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
    40. ^ Munro, Alistair (6 February 2023). "Carmichael reselected to stand for Lib Dems". The Shetland Times. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
    41. ^ "Alistair Carmichael MP - Who is he?". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
    42. ^ Brooks, Cameron (28 May 2015). "SNP distance itself from plot to strip Alistair Carmichael of church elder status". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 6 February 2023.

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alistair Carmichael.
    Parliament of the United Kingdom
    Preceded by
    Jim Wallace
    		 Member of Parliament
    for Orkney and Shetland
    2001–present     		Incumbent
    Party political offices
    Preceded by
    Liberal Democrat Chief Whip of the House of Commons

    2010–2013     		Succeeded by
    Preceded by Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
    2012–present     		Incumbent
    Preceded by
    Liberal Democrat Chief Whip of the House of Commons

    2017–present
    Political offices
    Preceded by Government Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Commons
    2010–2013     		Succeeded by
    Comptroller of the Household
    2010–2013
    Preceded by Secretary of State for Scotland
    2013–2015     		Succeeded by
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