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
22 Jun 2026 Armed Forces Bill Report Stage: New Clause 22 Aye 74–323
22 Jun 2026 Armed Forces Bill Report Stage: New Clause 11 No 104–391
22 Jun 2026 Armed Forces Bill Report Stage: New Clause 4 Aye 164–311
17 Jun 2026 National Security (State Threats) Bill Committee: New Clause 3 No vote 144–244
17 Jun 2026 National Security (State Threats) Bill Committee: Amendment 13 No vote 135–258
17 Jun 2026 National Security (State Threats) Bill Committee: Amendment 8 No vote 143–249
17 Jun 2026 National Security (State Threats) Bill Committee: Amendment 3 No vote 85–317
17 Jun 2026 National Security (State Threats) Bill: Allocation of Time motion No vote 233–94
16 Jun 2026 Draft Clean Air Zones Central Services (Fees) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 No vote 262–86
16 Jun 2026 Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill Remaining Stages: Amendment 3 No vote 162–246
16 Jun 2026 Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill Remaining Stages: New Clause 14 No vote 151–258
16 Jun 2026 Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill Remaining Stages: New Clause 13 No vote 77–255
15 Jun 2026 Royal Albert Hall Bill [Lords]: Revival No vote 24–37
10 Jun 2026 Railways Bill: Third Reading No vote 278–149
10 Jun 2026 Railways Bill Remaining Stages: Amendment 148 No vote 155–279
10 Jun 2026 Railways Bill Remaining Stages: Amendment 143 No vote 167–266
10 Jun 2026 Railways Bill Remaining Stages: New Clause 1 No vote 77–271
9 Jun 2026 Draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2026 No vote 356–86
9 Jun 2026 Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill Committee: New Clause 4 No vote 157–287
9 Jun 2026 Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill Committee: New Clause 12 No vote 94–297
9 Jun 2026 Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill Committee: Amendment 20 No vote 90–290
8 Jun 2026 Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill Committee: New Clause 8 No vote 145–251
8 Jun 2026 Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill Committee: New Clause 2 No vote 65–251
8 Jun 2026 Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill Committee: Amendment 12 No vote 81–266
3 Jun 2026 Draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2026 deferred division No vote 302–155

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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