Alistair Carmichael: Legal bid to unseat former Lib Dem Scotland Secretary branded a 'political show trial'

Four of Mr Carmichael’s Orkney and Shetland constituents accuse him of lying over a leaked memo which falsely claimed that Nicola Sturgeon favoured a Cameron victory in the UK’s general election

(Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A legal bid to unseat the former Liberal Democrat Scotland Secretary Alistair Carmichael has been branded a “political show trial” by the party’s former Scottish leader.

Four of Mr Carmichael’s Orkney and Shetland constituents have raised the unusual court action, accusing him of lying over a leaked memo which falsely claimed that SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon favoured a David Cameron victory in the UK’s general election.

However, in heated exchanges, Tavish Scott, the Lid Dem MSP for Shetland, told the election court that people considered the proceedings “a political event being funded by people, particularly nationalists, who do not want opposition in this country”.

Fiona Grahame, a voter from Sandwick in Orkney, and one of the four bringing the action, told the court, sitting in Edinburgh on 9 November, that she had felt shock and disbelief when Mr Carmichael admitted, two weeks after the election, that he had authorised the leak of the Scotland Office memo

Mr Carmichael had previously said he did not know about the memo until alerted to newspaper reports about it. Giving evidence, he admitted he had thought it would be “politically beneficial” to leak the memo and conceded he had been “south of the standard that would be expected of the [ministerial] code.”

The MP has apologised for his role and declined his severance pay after losing his Cabinet role after the election.

The four voters raised more than £127,000 to bring the action. The court will judge whether the MP’s comments about his role in leaking the memo were intended to mislead his constituents.

The two judges, Lady Paton and Lord Matthews, will present their judgments to the House of Commons at a later date.

A spokesperson for the SNP declined to comment.