Alistair Carmichael faces £150,000 legal bill despite defeating bid to unseat him as MP

Asked if, following his court victory, he would be seeking to get back costs from those who had brought the case against him, the backbencher said: “Yes. It has cost me £150,000 in legal fees.

“I did not ask to be taken to court but I was advised right at the start that we would ultimately win and, ultimately, we have.”

The 50-year-old politician explained that, while he was hopeful of recovering his legal fees, he had been advised that the so-called “judicial expenses” he might be able to get back would only, at most, cover two-thirds of his overall costs.

“So it could cost me £50,000. I do not come from a rich background. Everything we have, my wife and I have earned. So the financial aspect of this could be with us for some time to come,” said Mr Carmichael.

And after suffering widespread political attacks, the former Cabinet Minister declared: “I will not be bullied out of Parliament.”

The case centred on so-called “Frenchgate”. This involved Mr Carmichael sanctioning the leak of an official memo.

It claimed that Nicola Sturgeon had privately told Sylvie Bermann, the French ambassador, that she wanted David Cameron to stay in No 10; the direct opposite of what she was saying in public.

Once the memo appeared in the press, the First Minister swiftly insisted its contents were untrue. The French embassy agreed. Controversy followed as it was clear the leak was a crude attempt to smear the First Minister during the election campaign.

Four of Mr Carmichael’s constituents claimed he had misled voters and took him to court in order to quash the election result and bring about a by-election on Orkney and Shetland.

The constituents argued the MP’s actions called into question his integrity as an individual and his suitability to represent the northern isles constituency at Westminster.

After a three-day court hearing last month the judges dismissed the petition but said Mr Carmichael had told a "blatant lie" in the course of a TV interview on April 5 regarding the leaked memo.

The former Cabinet Minister claimed the first he had heard of it was when a newspaper reporter approached him about the leak; in reality, he had personally sanctioned it.

However, the court ruled that, under the 1983 Representation of the People Act, it had not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he had committed an ''illegal practice''.

After the ruling, Mr Carmichael said the case had been politically motivated. “It was a deliberate attempt by Nationalists to remove the last Scottish Liberal voice at Westminster and is a mark of the unhealthy polarisation of Scottish politics since the referendum.”

The former Cabinet Minister was the only Liberal Democrat to survive May’s SNP landslide, seeing his majority reduced from 9,928 to 817.

But his opponents from Orkney pointed out how they had won on the majority of points put before the judges.

"The case has been lost on the slimmest of legal technicalities,” they declared. “It is more of a loss for Alistair Carmichael than a win.”

There was no indication of an appeal. The petitioners raised nearly £165,000 through crowdfunding to pay for their legal action.

The SNP said: “While he prevailed in the election court on a strict interpretation of the law, it is much more doubtful he or his party will survive the court of public opinion."

But Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, insisted the court ruling was the “right outcome” while Willie Rennie, the party’s Scottish leader, said: “The Scottish judicial system has vindicated Alistair's election as MP for Orkney and Shetland."

Although Mr Carmichael is pleased and relieved about winning the court case, his future still hangs in the balance. Kathryn Hudson, Westminster’s standards commissioner, is investigating the Frenchgate affair. Her decision is expected in the New Year.