Official portrait of Mr Alistair Carmichael

Mr Alistair Carmichael

Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, since 7 June 2001

The Rt Hon Mr Alistair Carmichael is the Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, and has been an MP continually since 7 June 2001.

Scorecard

51.3% Attendance In the least-present tenth of MPs who vote
294 Votes cast out of 575 divisions, plus 1 as teller
280 No vote recorded absent, abstaining, paired or unable to attend
1 Against their own party divisions where they voted the other way to most Liberal Democrat MPs
6 Interests declared none at £5,000 or more
1479 Debates spoken in 565 written questions tabled

Ranked 579 of 638 MPs for attendance. The median of MPs who vote is 72.3%. Ministers and front-benchers vote less often than backbenchers for reasons of office rather than absenteeism, and Parliament does not publish reasons for any absence — the ranking is a starting point for a question, not an answer to one.

Voting record

575 divisions since they took their seat, newest first.

DateQuestionTheir voteResult
15 Jul 2026 Draft Code of Practice on Electronic and Workplace Ballots for Statutory Trade Union Ballots deferred division No vote 330–109
15 Jul 2026 Draft Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026 deferred division No vote 330–109
14 Jul 2026 Public Office (Accountability) Bill Report Stage: Amendment 19 No vote 104–412
14 Jul 2026 Public Office (Accountability) Bill Report Stage: Amendment 199 No vote 102–409
14 Jul 2026 Public Office (Accountability) Bill Report Stage: Amendment 3 No vote 93–323
13 Jul 2026 Immigration and Asylum Bill: Second Reading No vote 264–90
13 Jul 2026 Immigration and Asylum Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading No vote 97–358
8 Jul 2026 Draft Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026 deferred division No 283–182
8 Jul 2026 Draft Supply of Machinery (Safety) (Amendment etc.) and the EU Machinery Regulation (Enforcement etc. in Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 deferred division No vote 317–103
8 Jul 2026 Draft Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (Establishment of Schools) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026 deferred division Aye 369–102
7 Jul 2026 Opposition Day: Early release of prisoners No vote 115–0
6 Jul 2026 National Security (State Threats) Bill: motion to agree to Lords Amendment 1 Aye 394–85
1 Jul 2026 Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill Committee: New Clause 5 Aye 177–308
1 Jul 2026 Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill Committee: New Clause 4 Aye 173–282
1 Jul 2026 Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill Committee: New Clause 2 Aye 80–281
1 Jul 2026 Draft Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) (Amendment) Order 2026 deferred division No vote 318–107
1 Jul 2026 Draft Employment Tribunal (Extension of Time Limits) (Miscellaneous Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026 deferred division No vote 322–107
24 Jun 2026 Draft Climate Change Act 2008 (Credit Limit) Order 2026 Aye 330–93
24 Jun 2026 Draft Climate Change Act 2008 (International Aviation and International Shipping) Regulations 2026 Aye 329–94
24 Jun 2026 Draft Carbon Budget Order 2026 Aye 332–94
24 Jun 2026 Customs (Tariff and Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 4) Regulations 2026 deferred division No 323–160
23 Jun 2026 Opposition Day: Puberty blockers No vote 112–283
23 Jun 2026 Opposition Day Motion: Defence spending and readiness - Prime Minister's Amendment No vote 294–110
23 Jun 2026 Opposition day: Defence spending and readiness No vote 108–307
22 Jun 2026 Armed Forces Bill Report Stage: Amendment 11 Aye 171–322

Declared financial interests

Quoted in full from the Register of Members' Financial Interests. Entries where the largest figure is £5,000 or more are marked. A declaration is not a wrongdoing — the register exists precisely so that these things are visible.

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)

On the register since 8 Oct 2025

Payment: £750
Received on: 29 September 2025. Hours: 5 hrs.
(Registered 30 September 2025)

On the register since 8 Oct 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)

On the register since 16 Aug 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)

On the register since 18 Apr 2024

8. Miscellaneous

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

On the register since 16 Aug 2024

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

On the register since 18 Apr 2024

The same register on parliament.uk →

Debates

1479 debates contributed to in total. The ten most recent:


Sources: Commons Votes API, Members API and the Register of Members' Financial Interests, all published by Parliament under the Open Parliament Licence. This member's register and debate record were last refreshed 3 Aug 2026. How every figure is worked out →

Machine-readable: JSON for this MP.

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