EMBATTLED Alistair Carmichael has been given a key role as home affairs spokesman by new Liberal Democrat party leader Tim Farron in a move which has provoked disbelief and anger north of the Border.

The former Scottish Secretary has been under pressure to quit his role as MP for Orkney and Shetland after he leaked an inaccurate memo about Nicola Sturgeon ahead of the General Election – and then lied about it.

He is facing legal action from some constituents who are hoping the courts will order a rerun of the poll in his constituency, and is also at the centre of a formal investigation by the Westminster standards watchdog over the episode.

Peter Grant, the SNP MP, suggested there was an irony in Carmichael being appointed to the home affairs role, where he would be expected to comment on justice issues, while the standards investigation was ongoing.

“Mr Carmichael’s actions as Secretary of State for Scotland in the coalition government make his judgement seriously questionable,” said Peter Grant, the SNP MP.

“His appointment as LibDem Home Affairs spokesperson at a time when he is under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner – for wrongdoing while in ministerial office – shows how little respect the Lib Dems have for the process.”

One of Carmichael’s constituents in Orkney also hit out at the appointment. “I am really shocked to hear this,” said Kane Mackinnon, 22, who lives on the islands.

“To put him in the home affairs position after everything that has gone on and before the case is over and the investigation finished indicates the Lib Dems don’t care.”

He added: “I am annoyed he feels we have no right to decide whether he should be in office or not. He could have stood down and given us a by-election and let the people decide. He is saying people want him to be in opposition, but if that’s the case he should let us have a vote. He hasn’t been democratically elected – because his election was based on a lie.”

Farron sparked controversy earlier this month after he claimed Carmichael – his only Scottish MP – should be “given a break” over the revelations.

Unveiling his front bench team yesterday Farron insisted his party was in “surprisingly good health” after a “shocking” election result in which the LibDems were left with just eight MPs.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who stood down as party leader following the election result, had turned down the offer of a spokesman role.

Farron warned the Conservative Party would “be in power forever if there isn’t a proper electable, credible alternative and we’re happy to be that”.

Speaking about his party during a visit to a record shop in Kingston, south west London, he said it was “sad that it took such a battering” in the General Election on May 7 for people to realise “how much we mattered and how much they miss us”.

He said: “What is startling is that a party that got hammered and ended up with eight MPs should get an increase in its membership of 30 odd per cent and start winning by-elections in significant numbers.”

Asked if he felt let down when Clegg decided not to take a spokesman role, he said: “No. I wanted him to do it, and I was quite keen but I didn’t twist his arm too much because no other leader immediately after they’ve stepped down has done that.

“And so I totally understand the guy has absolutely earned his right to a summer off but he will very much be involved in what we’re doing.”

The confidential memo –leaked with Carmichael’s knowledge by one of his aides to the Daily Telegraph in April – contained inaccurate claims Sturgeon had told the French ambassador she wanted the Conservatives to win the General Election, contradicting her public statements at the time, and did not believe Ed Miliband was prime minister material.

The LibDem MP originally said he was unaware of the memo, a claim which was later found to be untrue.

Kathryn Hudson, the standards commissioner, announced an inquiry into his actions last month.

Hudson’s investigation, which could take six months, will decide whether Carmichael broke the standards expected of MPs and whether he should be punished. If found to have breached the rules, he could be suspended from the House.

The LibDem admitted in May he had allowed his special adviser, Euan Roddin, to release the record of a private conversation between Sturgeon and Bermann.

It is now accepted the memo was not a true record of the conversation after the First Minister said its contents were not accurate.

Carmichael has also been criticised for going on television after the memo was made public and denying that he had seen it before, even though he had authorised the leak.

Carmichael later apologised to Sturgeon for authorising the leak. He refused his ministerial severance pay and insisted that he would have resigned from the government had he still been a minister. But he has refused to stand down as a MP.