Alexander Morrison "Alistair" Carmichael (born 15 July 1965) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Orkney and Shetland since 2001. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he previously served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2013 to 2015 and as Deputy Government Chief Whip from 2010 to 2013. He currently serves as the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.
Carmichael served as Liberal Democrat Chief Whip of the House of Commons from 2010 to 2013. From 7 October 2013 to 8 May 2015, he was the Secretary of State for Scotland in the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government. He served a second term as Chief Whip from 2017 to 2020, having taken over the position from Tom Brake following the 2017 general election. He was the Liberal Democrat Spokesman for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Exiting the European Union from January 2020 to August 2020. He was previously the Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2012 to 2021. He was Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home 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 the House of Commons during the 57th Parliament (2015–2017). He is the longest-serving Liberal Democrat MP and their senior Scottish MP in the current UK Parliament.
Alexander Carmichael was born on 15 July 1965 to hill farming parents on Islay in the Inner Hebrides, and went on to attend Port Ellen Primary School and Islay High School. He worked between 1984 and 1989 as a hotel manager after 2 years of study at the University of Glasgow. There, he was a member of the Students' Representative Council and President of the Liberal Club. He ultimately 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. 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.
Carmichael first stood for Parliament at Paisley South in 1987 as the Liberal candidate, being defeated by the sitting Labour MP, Norman Buchan. He finished in second place, achieving 15.1% of the vote, which was down 9% from 1983.
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. Carmichael won with 41.3% of the vote, 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. 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.
Carmichael was appointed Liberal Democrat Northern Ireland and Scotland Spokesman by Sir Menzies Campbell in July 2007, but resigned in March 2008 to vote in favour of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. 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.
Carmichael was re-elected at the 2010 general election with an increased vote share of 62.0% and an increased majority of 9,928.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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, under the de facto leadership of Party President Sal Brinton.
Campaign memo and election petition