MPs’ business costs

Mr Alistair Carmichael

IPSA paid £3,321,290 against 3,217 published rows for Mr Alistair Carmichael between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Orkney and Shetland CC. These are the costs of running an office and employing staff under IPSA’s rules. They are not salary, and the largest part of them is wages IPSA pays to the member’s employees rather than money the member receives.

By category, 2025-26

114 claims, £21,072 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

Category	What it covers	Claims	Paid	Share
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	113	£20,177	95.8%
Accommodation	The cost of somewhere to stay for an MP whose constituency is far enough from Westminster that IPSA's rules allow it. An MP representing a London seat is not eligible on the same terms.	1	£896	4.2%

Every year in the register

Mr Alistair Carmichael’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2010-11 and the last is 2025-26. Figures are not adjusted for inflation, so a rise between two distant years is partly a rise in prices. Select a year to read it on its own.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	163	£70,085	£21,014	£9,260	£32,128	—	£132,487
2011-12	226	£103,687	£30,741	£12,396	£51,090	£162	£198,076
2012-13	247	£116,687	£22,830	£12,396	£52,977	—	£204,891
2013-14	208	£133,823	£21,672	£12,396	£44,355	£160	£212,406
2014-15	224	£113,702	£23,660	£12,650	£27,157	—	£177,170
2015-16	201	£134,161	£22,134	£13,756	£39,853	—	£209,904
2016-17	211	£137,277	£23,046	£13,081	£42,707	—	£216,111
2017-18	179	£126,547	£24,366	£12,597	£42,142	—	£205,652
2018-19	190	£130,688	£25,318	£13,596	£52,784	—	£222,385
2019-20	214	£123,405	£26,678	£13,392	£51,184	—	£214,659
2020-21	200	£158,237	£24,398	£13,446	£7,736	—	£203,816
2021-22	150	£160,924	£25,663	£20,235	£38,859	—	£245,681
2022-23	214	£168,832	£29,026	£8,313	£43,841	£1,355	£251,366
2023-24	257	£186,784	£38,760	£15,746	£43,732	—	£285,022
2024-25	219	£216,189	£37,664	£14,797	£51,943	—	£320,593
2025-26	114	—	£20,177	£896	—	—	£21,072

A year in which Mr Alistair Carmichael joined or left the House part-way through is a part year, and is not comparable with a full one.

What each category is made of, 2025-26

The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Utilities	14	£5,497
Advertising and contact cards	33	£2,989
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	2	£2,341
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	16	£2,294
Equipment - purchase	5	£1,910
Cleaning services	19	£1,420

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Utilities	1	£896

Largest claims, 2025-26

The 15 rows IPSA paid most against, with IPSA’s own description of each. Read the description before the amount: IPSA publishes most of a member’s staffing as one row for the whole year — “Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the ⟨year⟩ year” — so the largest row here is usually a year of wages for the member’s employees and not something bought.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
27 February 2026	Office Costs	Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs	E.FRASER ELEC (ORK)LTD	£2,238	£2,238
14 October 2025	Office Costs	Utilities	Electricity	£1,082	£1,082
23 September 2025	Office Costs	Utilities	Electricity	£1,082	£1,082
23 February 2026	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Sundries	£1,073	£1,073
21 February 2026	Accommodation	Utilities	Water	£896	£896
21 July 2025	Office Costs	Utilities	Electricity	£757	£757
4 June 2025	Office Costs	Software & applications	ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES	£738	£738
4 June 2025	Office Costs	Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	Landline & internet package	£572	£572
15 December 2025	Office Costs	Utilities	Electricity	£501	£501
4 August 2025	Office Costs	Stationery & printing	SINCLAIR OFFICE SUPPLI	£460	£460
24 June 2025	Office Costs	Utilities	Electricity	£449	£449
7 April 2025	Office Costs	Utilities	Electricity	£411	£411
12 September 2025	Office Costs	Utilities	Electricity	£399	£399
6 May 2025	Office Costs	Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	Landline & internet package	£383	£383
13 October 2025	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Office furniture	£365	£365

Claims refused and money repaid, 2025-26

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £87 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

What this page does not show

Whether any of it was justified. IPSA accepted these claims under its own rules and the register records what was paid, not whether it should have been. A large total is not a finding about the member.

Nor how Mr Alistair Carmichael compares with another member. After staffing the largest headings are accommodation and travel, and both are decided mostly by where a constituency is: a member several hundred miles from Westminster is eligible for costs a member with a London seat is not. Two members’ totals are two sets of rules as much as two sets of choices, and the length of service differs too.

It is also not pay. IPSA sets and publishes MPs’ salaries separately and they are not in this register; the staffing figure here is the salaries of the member’s employees.

All MPs’ business costs · Mr Alistair Carmichael’s register of interests and votes · Sources