Trust awards People Versus Carmichael campaign £5,000 towards legal costs

The four Orkney constituents who took Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael to court after the 2015 General Election have been awarded £5,000 from the same organisation that contributed £50,000 towards Mr Carmichael’s legal costs.

The People Versus Carmichael campaign has raised £210,050 so far, but the award from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (JRRT) Ltd still leaves a shortfall of £6,000 following the receipt of their final legal bill.

Mr Carmichael was taken to court by four Orkney residents — Timothy Morrison, Cary Welling, Fiona Grahame and Euphemia Matheson — who set out to overturn last year’s election result after it was revealed the former Scottish Secretary was responsible for a leaked memo to the press.

It led to a Daily Telegraph article in April, 2015, claiming that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told a French diplomat that she secretly wanted David Cameron to remain in power.

However, the memo was subsequently found to be inaccurate.

In the run-up to the election in May 2015 Mr Carmichael denied any knowledge of the leak during a television interview on Channel 4, however later admitting he was responsible after the result had been announced.

The legal challenge claimed that Mr Carmichael’s re-election contravened the Representation of the People Act 1983, because voters were unaware of his involvement in the pre-election leak, as he had denied any knowledge of it.

Although the judges in the case were critical of Mr Carmichael’s conduct, stating that he had told a “blatant lie”, he was cleared of any criminal misconduct.

The judges subsequently ruled that Mr Carmichael’s opponents would not have to foot the MP’s legal bill, thought to be in the region of £150,000.

Earlier this year the JRRT Ltd awarded Mr Carmichael £50,000 towards his costs.

In the award letter to The People Versus Carmichael, Tina Walker, secretary to the JRRT Ltd, said: “I am pleased to be able to tell you that directors have agreed to make one final grant in relation to the matter, recognising the prohibitive costs involved and have agreed to grant your request.”

A spokesperson for The People Versus Carmichael campaign said: “We are very pleased that the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd has awarded us this money because it shows that it is genuinely promoting public debate and accepting that citizens have a legitimate right to challenge their MPs using due legal process and other democratic means.

“We took our MP to an Election Court to have the Orkney and Shetland result in the 2015 General Election overturned and wanted a by-election to be held, because the electorate was not in full possession of the facts before voting.

“Our case was deemed justified by the Election Court, although it failed on a legal technicality.”