Alistair Carmichael

The Right Honourable Alistair Carmichael MP
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 July 2015
Leader	Tim Farron
Preceded by	Lynne Featherstone
Deputy Leader of Scottish Liberal Democrats
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 September 2012
Leader	Willie Rennie
Preceded by	Jo Swinson
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 7 October 2013 – 8 May 2015
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Michael Moore
Succeeded by	David Mundell
Government Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Commons Comptroller of the Household
In office 11 May 2010 – 7 October 2013
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	John Spellar
Succeeded by	Don Foster
Liberal Democrat Northern Ireland and Scotland Spokesman
In office October 2008 – 11 May 2010
Leader	Nick Clegg
Preceded by	Michael Moore
Succeeded by	Position abolished
In office July 2007 – March 2008
Leader	Menzies Campbell
Preceded by	Lembit Öpik (Northern Ireland) Jo Swinson (Scotland)
Succeeded by	Michael Moore
Member of Parliament for Orkney and Shetland
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 June 2001
Preceded by	Jim Wallace
Majority	817 (3.6%)
Personal details
Born	(1965-07-15) 15 July 1965 Islay, Scotland
Political party	Liberal Democrats
Spouse(s)	Kate Carmichael
Children	2 sons
Alma mater	University of Aberdeen
Religion	Presbyterianism
Website	Official website

Alexander Morrison "Alistair" Carmichael PC ^[1] (born 15 July 1965) is a Liberal Democrat politician and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Scottish seat of Orkney and Shetland since the 2001 general election. He is the only Scottish MP representing the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons.

He is the Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and, from 7 October 2013 to 8 May 2015, was the Secretary of State for Scotland in the UK coalition government.

Early life

He was born on Islay, and attended Port Ellen Primary School and Islay High School.^[2] He worked between 1984–89 as a hotel manager, before beginning study at the University of Glasgow. There, he was a member of the Students' Representative Council^[3] and President of the Liberal Club,^[4] however he left his course early. He returned to education at the University of Aberdeen, where he gained an LLB in 1992, qualifying as a solicitor in 1993.^[2] From 1993 to 1996, he was a Procurator Fiscal Depute for Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and from 1996 to 2001 he was a solicitor with Aberdeen and Macduff.^[2]

Political career

Carmichael first stood for Parliament at Paisley South in 1987, being defeated by the Labour incumbent Norman Buchan. He was later elected to represent Orkney and Shetland in the 2001 general election, the constituency previously held by Jim Wallace and Jo Grimond. He was appointed Liberal Democrat Northern Ireland and Scotland Spokesman by Sir Menzies Campbell in July 2007,^[5] but resigned in March 2008 to vote in favour of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.^[6] He was reappointed to the position by Nick Clegg in October 2008. He had also briefly served as the 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.^[7][8]

At the beginning of the Liberal Democrat - Conservative coalition government in May 2010, Carmichael was appointed 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.^[9]

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.^[10]

In October 2013 he was promoted by Nick Clegg to the position of Secretary of State for Scotland in the UK Cabinet, replacing Michael Moore.^[11]

2015 General Election

Carmichael kept his seat in the 2015 general election, the only Liberal Democrat in Scotland out of 11 MPs elected in 2010 to do so. The Liberal Democrats also lost the majority of their seats in the rest of the UK and Carmichael was one of only eight Liberal Democrat MPs returned to parliament.

Following the resignation of Nick Clegg, Alistair Carmichael took temporary charge of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons,^[12] under the de facto leadership of Party President Sal Brinton.^[13]

'Frenchgate' memo leak

On 4 April 2015, Alistair Carmichael was involved in what became known as 'Frenchgate':^[14] the leaking of a memo from 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.^[15] The veracity of the memo was quickly denied by the French ambassador, French consul general and Sturgeon.^[16]

At the time of the leak Carmichael denied all knowledge of the leaking of the memo in a television interview with Channel 4 News.^[17] 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.^[18] Carmichael apologised and accepted that had he still been a government minister, this was a matter that would have "required [his] resignation".^[19]

Four electors from Orkney and Shetland lodged an election petition on 29 May 2015, the last date possible to do this following the 7 May general election, attempting to unseat Carmichael and force a by-election.^[20][21] On 2 June 2015, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner launched an investigation into his conduct, under sections 10, 14 and 16 of the Code of Conduct,^[22] but this investigation was dropped because Carmichael became aware of the memo via the Scottish Office and not in his capacity as an MP. ^[23] On 9 December it was decided that although he had told a "blatant lie" in a TV interview, it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that he had committed an "illegal practice"^[24] and he was allowed to retain his seat.^[25] In February 2016 his application for costs was rejected, leaving him £150,000 out of pocket.^[26] Party leader Willie Rennie contributed £750 towards his costs.^[27] Carmichael was awarded £50,000 towards the costs from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust.^[28]

Personal life

He married Kathryn Jane Eastham in 1987. They have two sons (born 1997 and 2001) and live in Orkney. He speaks both French and German. He lists his interests as listening to music, theatre and cooking. He is an elder in the Church of Scotland.^[29]

References

External links

• Alistair Carmichael MP official constituency website
• Profile at the Liberal Democrats
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at New Statesman
• Election petition, 2015 at orkney.gov.uk

Secretaries of State for Scotland
Scotland Office
Secretary of State for Scotland 1707–1746	Mar Queensberry Mar Montrose Roxburghe Vacant Tweeddale
Secretary for Scotland 1885–1926	Richmond Trevelyan Dalhousie Balfour Lothian Trevelyan Balfour of Burleigh Murray Linlithgow Sinclair (Pentland_ McKinnon-Wood Tennant Munro Novar Adamson Gilmour
Secretary of State for Scotland 1926–1999	Gilmour Adamson Sinclair Collins Elliot Colville Brown Johnston Rosebery Westwood Woodburn McNeil Stuart Maclay Noble Ross Campbell Ross Millan Younger Rifkind Lang Forsyth Dewar
Secretary of State for Scotland 1999–present	Reid Liddell Darling* Alexander* Browne** Murphy Alexander Moore Carmichael Mundell
*Also Secretary of State for Transport; **Secretary of State for Defence

First Cameron Cabinet
Cabinet members	Danny Alexander Vince Cable David Cameron Alistair Carmichael Kenneth Clarke Nick Clegg Stephen Crabb Edward Davey Iain Duncan Smith Michael Fallon Liam Fox Cheryl Gillan Michael Gove Chris Grayling Justine Greening William Hague Philip Hammond Lord Hill of Oareford Chris Huhne Jeremy Hunt David Jones Andrew Lansley David Laws Sajid Javid Patrick McLoughlin Theresa May Maria Miller Andrew Mitchell Michael Moore Nicky Morgan George Osborne Owen Paterson Eric Pickles Grant Shapps Caroline Spelman Baroness Stowell Lord Strathclyde Elizabeth Truss Theresa Villiers Baroness Warsi George Young
Also attended meetings	Greg Clark Dominic Grieve Matthew Hancock Oliver Letwin Esther McVey Francis Maude David Willetts Jeremy Wright