Alistair Carmichael | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Chair of theEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee | |
| Assumed office 9 September 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Goodwill |
| 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 |
| Deputy Government Chief Whip in theHouse 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 |
| Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrats | |
| In office 16 June 2017 – 27 August 2020 | |
| Leader | Vince Cable Jo Swinson Ed Davey |
| Preceded by | Tom Brake |
| Succeeded by | Wendy Chamberlain |
| In office 11 May 2010 – 7 October 2013 | |
| Leader | Nick Clegg |
| Preceded by | Paul Burstow |
| Succeeded by | Don Foster |
| Member of Parliament forOrkney and Shetland | |
| Assumed office 7 June 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Wallace |
| Majority | 7,807 (37.7%) |
| Liberal Democrat portfolios | |
| 2006, 2015–2016, 2020–2024 | Home Affairs |
| 2007–2010[a] | Scotland Office |
| 2019 | Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
| 2020 | |
| 2017–2024[b] | Northern Ireland Office |
| 2022–2024 | Justice |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexander Morrison Carmichael (1965-07-15)15 July 1965 (age 59) Islay,Inner Hebrides, Scotland |
| Political party | Scottish Liberal Democrats |
| Spouse | Kate Carmichael |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Alma mater | University of Aberdeen (LLB) |
| Website | www |
Alexander Morrison "Alistair"Carmichael[1] (born 15 July 1965) is a British politician who has been theMember of Parliament (MP) forOrkney and Shetland since2001. A member of theLiberal Democrats, he previously served in theCameron–Clegg coalition asSecretary of State for Scotland from 2013 to 2015 and asDeputy Government Chief Whip from 2010 to 2013. He currently serves as the Chair of theEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.
Carmichael served asLiberal Democrat Chief Whip of theHouse of Commons from 2010 to 2013. From 7 October 2013 to 8 May 2015, he was theSecretary of State for Scotland in theConservative-Lib Dem coalition government. He served a second term as Chief Whip from 2017 to 2020, having taken over the position fromTom Brake following the2017 general election. He was theLiberal Democrat Spokesman forForeign and Commonwealth Affairs andExiting the European Union from January 2020 to August 2020. He was previously the Deputy Leader of theScottish Liberal Democrats from 2012 to 2021. He was Liberal Democrat Spokesperson forHome Affairs, Justice and for Northern Ireland until his election as select committee chair in September 2024.
He was the only Scottish MP representing the Liberal Democrats in theHouse of Commons during the 57th Parliament (2015–2017). He is the longest-serving Liberal Democrat MP and the senior Scottish MP in the current UK Parliament.
Alexander Carmichael was born on 15 July 1965 to hill farming parents onIslay in theInner Hebrides,[2] and went on to attend Port Ellen Primary School and Islay High School.[3] He worked between 1984 and 1989 as ahotel manager after 2 years of study at theUniversity of Glasgow. There, he was a member of theStudents' Representative Council[4] and President of the Liberal Club.[5] He ultimately left his course early. He returned to education at theUniversity of Aberdeen, where he gained anLLB in 1992, qualifying as a solicitor in 1993.[3] From 1993 to 1996, he was aProcurator Fiscal Depute for Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and from 1996 to 2001 he was a solicitor with Aberdeen and Macduff.[3]
Carmichael first stood for Parliament atPaisley South in1987, being defeated by the sittingLabour MP,Norman Buchan.[6] He finished in second place, achieving 15.1% of the vote, which was down 9% from1983.[7]
At the2001 general election, he was elected as the MP forOrkney and Shetland, succeeding the Liberal Democrat MPJim 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 the1997 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 leaderJo Grimond.
Carmichael was re-elected at the2005 general election with an increased vote share of 51.5% and an increased majority of 6,627.[10]
Carmichael was appointed Liberal DemocratNorthern Ireland andScotland Spokesman by SirMenzies Campbell in July 2007,[11] but resigned in March 2008 to vote in favour of areferendum on theLisbon Treaty.[12] He was reappointed to the position byNick Clegg in October 2008. He had also briefly served as theLiberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman, following the resignation ofMark 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 experiencedownshifting fromManchester 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 the2010 general election with an increased vote share of 62.0% and an increased majority of 9,928.[15][16][17]
At the beginning of theLiberal Democrat - Conservative coalition government in May 2010, Carmichael was appointedDeputy Chief Whip andComptroller of the Household.
In 2011, Carmichael was elected Honorary President of the Scottish Liberal Democrats youth wing,Liberal Youth Scotland.[18]
Carmichael took over fromJo Swinson as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats on 23 September 2012 at the AnnualLiberal Democrat Conference inBrighton.[19]
In October 2013, he was promoted byNick Clegg to the position ofSecretary of State for Scotland in theUK Cabinet, replacingMichael Moore.[20]
Carmichael retained his seat at the2015 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 ofNick 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 PresidentSal Brinton.[23]
On 4 April 2015, during thegeneral election campaign Carmichael was involved in theleaking of a memo from theScotland Office about comments allegedly made by the French ambassadorSylvie Bermann aboutNicola Sturgeon, claiming that Sturgeon had privately stated she would "rather seeDavid 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 withChannel 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 aCabinet Office enquiry identified Carmichael's role in the leak. The enquiry found phone records that proved Euan Roddin, Carmichael's Special Adviser, contacted theTelegraphon 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.[29][30] 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,[31] but this investigation was dropped because Carmichael became aware of the memo via the Scottish Office and not in his capacity as an MP.[32] On 9 December 2015, it was decided it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that he had committed an "illegal practice"[33] and he was allowed to retain his seat.[34] In February 2016, his application for costs was rejected, leaving him £150,000 out of pocket.[35] Scottish Liberal Democrat leaderWillie Rennie contributed £750 towards his costs.[36] Carmichael was awarded £50,000 towards the costs from theJoseph Rowntree Reform Trust.[37]
Carmichael was again re-elected at the snap2017 general election with an increased vote share of 48.6% and an increased majority of 4,563.[38][39] He was again re-elected at the2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 44.8% and a decreased majority of 2,507.[40][41] At the2024 general election, Carmichael was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 55.1% and an increased majority of 7,807.[42][43]
On 9 September 2024, Alistair Carmichael was elected as Chair of theEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.[44]
He married Kathryn Jane Eastham in 1987.[45] They have two sons (born in 1997 and 2001)[46] and the family reside inOrkney where she is a local veterinary surgeon.[47] He speaks French and German.[48] Carmichael is an elder in theChurch of Scotland.[49]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forOrkney and Shetland 2001–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Liberal Democrat Chief Whip of theHouse of Commons 2010–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Leader of theScottish Liberal Democrats 2012–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Liberal Democrat Chief Whip of theHouse of Commons 2017–present | |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Government Deputy Chief Whip of theHouse of Commons 2010–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Comptroller of the Household 2010–2013 | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Scotland 2013–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Secretaries of state for Scotland 1707–1746 | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Secretaries for Scotland 1885–1926 | ||
| Secretaries of state for Scotland (pre-devolution) 1926–1999 | ||
| Secretaries of state for Scotland (post-devolution) 1999–present | ||
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