Mr Alistair Carmichael

Voting record

3

Voted for

2

Voted against

4

Didn’t vote

Based on 9 recorded Commons divisions at Second or Third Reading of bills tracked by Hear, Hear — not a full voting record. “Didn’t vote” means Parliament has no vote recorded for them in that division (absent, abstained, paired, or excused). See the All votes tab below for every division.

See Mr Alistair Carmichael’s full voting record on Parliament’s site →

Bill votes All votes Live bills

Whip meter Estimate 92%

How often Mr Alistair Carmichael voted the same way as most of the Liberal Democrat party, across every recorded division. Parliament doesn’t publish whether a vote was officially whipped, so this is our best estimate from the public record — not a confirmed fact.

Recent votes

Representation of the People Bill — voted Aye at 3rd reading

Immigration and Asylum Bill — voted didn't vote at 2nd reading

Railways Bill — voted didn't vote at 3rd reading

Courts and Tribunals Bill — voted No at 2nd reading

Railways Bill — voted No at 2nd reading

Northern Ireland Troubles Bill — voted didn't vote at 2nd reading

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill — voted Aye at 3rd reading

Government & opposition roles

Mr Alistair Carmichael doesn’t currently hold a government or shadow front-bench post, but has in the past. See Government for who else currently holds one.

Previously held

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Justice) — Opposition Department (2022-07-11 to 2024-09-18) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Home Affairs) — Opposition Department (2020-09-07 to 2024-09-18) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Cabinet Office) — Opposition Department (2020-09-07 to 2022-07-10) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Northern Ireland) — Opposition Department (2020-09-07 to 2024-09-18) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) — Opposition Department (2020-01-06 to 2020-09-07) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Exiting the European Union) — Opposition Department (2020-01-06 to 2020-09-07) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) — Opposition Department (2019-02-07 to 2019-08-21) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Chief Whip — Opposition Department (2017-06-16 to 2020-09-07) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Northern Ireland) — Opposition Department (2017-06-16 to 2020-01-06) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Home Affairs) — Opposition Department (2015-07-29 to 2017-06-16) Shadow

Secretary of State for Scotland — Scotland Office (2013-10-07 to 2015-05-08) Government

Comptroller (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons) — HM Household (2010-05-12 to 2013-10-07) Government

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Scotland) — Opposition Department (2008-06-01 to 2010-04-12) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Northern Ireland) — Opposition Department (2007-10-18 to 2010-05-06) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Transport) — Opposition Department (2006-03-03 to 2007-10-18) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Home Affairs) — Opposition Department (2005-05-10 to 2006-03-02) Shadow

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Energy and Climate Change) — Opposition Department (2001-05-10 to 2005-05-10) Shadow

Declared financial interests

From Parliament’s Register of Members’ Financial Interests — Parliament’s official register for Mr Alistair Carmichael →. Topic tags below are our own automated, best-effort keyword match, not Parliament’s classification.

1. Employment and earnings

Role, work or services: Member of the Advisory Board of the House Magazine
From: 12 May 2021.
Payer: Dods Group Ltd, 11th Floor, The Shard, 32 London Bridge St, London SE1 9SG
(Registered 22 September 2021)
Payment: £750
Received on: 29 September 2025. Hours: 5 hrs.
(Registered 30 September 2025)

6. Land and property portfolio with a value over £100,000 and where indicated, the portfolio provides a rental income of over £10,000 a year

Type of land/property: Agricultural land (Farmland including farm buildings and one house let as holiday accommodation, managed through Coillabus Farms)
Location: Islay, Argyll
Interest held: from 10 November 2021
Rental income: from 10 November 2021
Rental income details: income paid to my father
(Registered 16 November 2021; updated 29 July 2024)

7. (i) Shareholdings: over 15% of issued share capital

Name of company or organisation: Coillabus Farms
Nature of business: A firm which manages two farms and the letting of self-catering holiday accommodation on Islay.
Interest held: from 24 October 2021
(Registered 16 November 2021)

8. Miscellaneous

Unremunerated Director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding.
Date interest arose: 22 September 2017
(Registered 12 October 2017)

Employment & business

An unpaid partner in Coillabus Farms.
Date interest arose: 24 October 2021
(Registered 16 November 2021)

Written questions to government

No written questions on file for Mr Alistair Carmichael yet — this only covers what Hear, Hear has fetched so far (see Written questions), not necessarily every question Mr Alistair Carmichael has ever tabled.

Business costs (IPSA)

£342,515.38 paid out to or for Mr Alistair Carmichael across 342 claims — combining every financial year on file, not just the current one — covering office costs, accommodation, travel, and bought-in/temporary staffing. This does not include Mr Alistair Carmichael’s permanent staff’s salaries — typically the biggest single share of an MP’s real costs — which IPSA only publishes once a year, after the year closes, as one aggregate figure, never as individual claims. Some categories (especially travel) are reported by IPSA as one whole-year total rather than itemised by date — marked “Aggregated” below. See MP expenses to filter this to a single year.

By category

Staffing — £216,189.12 (2 claims)

Office Costs — £59,289.98 (304 claims)

MP Travel — £38,302.41 (19 claims)

Accommodation — £15,093.61 (3 claims)

Staff Travel — £11,516.00 (12 claims)

Dependant Travel — £2,124.26 (2 claims)

Most recent claims

Cleaning services — £60.37, 2026-04-30 — OFFICE WINDOW CLEANING [200013634-47]

Utilities — £663.97, 2026-04-27 — Electricity

Council tax — £165.95, 2026-04-17 — COUNCIL TAX LONDON ACCOMMODATION [200013602-55]

Utilities — £796.47, 2026-04-14 — Electricity

Newspapers, journals, magazines — £91.00, 2026-03-30 — PAYPAL ORKNEYMEDIA [200013613-9681]

Landline phone & internet - rental & usage — £136.90, 2026-03-18 — Landline & internet package

Landline phone & internet - rental & usage — £91.41, 2026-03-16 — Landline & internet package

Cleaning services — £74.75, 2026-03-09 — OFFICE CLEANING

Every claim on file for Mr Alistair Carmichael →

Early Day Motions

Mr Alistair Carmichael has tabled 2 Early Day Motions on file (as primary sponsor), drawing 16 sponsor signatures in total across them. This only counts motions Mr Alistair Carmichael personally tabled — not motions Mr Alistair Carmichael may have added their name to as a supporter, which this data source doesn’t track per MP. See Early Day Motions for what this does and doesn’t cover.

Most recent tabled

First female guizer jarl in Shetland’s Junior Up Helly Aa — tabled 2026-09-01, 7 sponsors

Orkney creel fishery, Community Catch Standard accreditation — tabled 2026-07-14, 9 sponsors

All-Party Parliamentary Groups

Mr Alistair Carmichael is a listed officer of 5 All-Party Parliamentary Groups on file. See APPGs for the full register and the biggest funders overall.

All-Party Parliamentary Group for Space — Officer

Declared funding: ADS Group (£3,001-4,500).

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries — Chair & Registered Contact

Declared funding: Mindfully Wired Consulting (£76,501-78,000).

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Marine Energy — Chair & Registered Contact

Declared funding: Marine Energy Council (£4,501-6,000).

All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Baha'i Faith — Chair & Registered Contact

Declared funding: Office of Public Affairs, Baha'i Community of the UK (£3,001-4,500).

All-Party Parliamentary Jordan Group — Chair & Registered Contact

No declared funding on file.

Who funds these groups

Biggest declared funder across these groups: Mindfully Wired Consulting — about £77,250.50 across 1 group (All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries).

Mindfully Wired Consulting — about £77,250.50, 1 group

Marine Energy Council — about £5,250.50, 1 group

ADS Group — about £3,750.50, 1 group

Office of Public Affairs, Baha'i Community of the UK — about £3,750.50, 1 group

Read this carefully: funding is declared by the group (often to pay for a secretariat that runs it), not paid to Mr Alistair Carmichael personally, and declaring it is a legal requirement rather than a sign of wrongdoing. This only covers groups Mr Alistair Carmichael is a listed officer of — ordinary members aren’t published. Amounts are Parliament’s own figures; where it gave a banded range the midpoint is used, so totals are approximate. Funders are grouped by name, so the same organisation spelled very differently may appear twice.