Standards Commissioner considering investigation into Alistair Carmichael

The House of Commons Standards watchdog is considering launching an investigation into the former Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael, it has emerged.

Picture: TSPL

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Hudson has confirmed that she has received a number of complaints about the conduct of Mr Carmichael after it emerged he was behind the leak of a memo suggesting Nicola Sturgeon wanted David Cameron to return as Prime Minister.

It is expected that Ms Hudson will decide in the next five days or so whether or not the complaints are within her remit and if an investigation is required.

A spokeswoman for the Standards’ Commissioner said: “I can confirm that the Commissioner has received complaints and is considering whether or not to bring an investigation.”

The Cabinet Office has already completed an inquiry into the leaked memo, which came to light at the height of the General Election campaign.

It found that Mr Carmichael’s special adviser Euan Roddin gave the details of the memo to the Daily Telegraph with the permission of Mr Carmichael. Both the politician and his adviser have said they will forgo the severance pay they would have received for leaving Government after the election.

The confidential memo was written by a civil servant in the Scotland Office and was a third-hand account of a conversation between the Scottish first minister and the French ambassador, in which Ms Sturgeon was reported to have said she wanted David Cameron to remain as Prime Minister.

Both the First Minister and the ambassador insisted this was not the case. The memo remarked that parts of the conversation may have been “lost in translation”.

Since Mr Carmichael, the last remaining Lib Dem MP in Scotland, admitted his role in the leaking of the document he has faced calls to quit as the MP for Orkney and Shetland from the SNP.