The Lord Carr of Hadley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Carr in 1951 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 March 1974 – 11 February 1975 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Edward Heath | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Denis Healey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Geoffrey Howe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Leonard Robert Carr (1916-11-11)11 November 1916 North Finchley, Middlesex, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 17 February 2012(2012-02-17) (aged 95) Alderley Edge, Cheshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Westminster School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leonard Robert Carr, Baron Carr of Hadley,PC (11 November 1916 – 17 February 2012) was a BritishConservative Party politician who served asHome Secretary from 1972 to 1974. He served as aMember of Parliament (MP) for 26 years, and later served in theHouse of Lords as alife peer.
Leonard Robert Carr was born inNorth Finchley on 11 November 1916.[1] He was educated atWestminster School[2] andGonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he readNatural Sciences, graduating in 1938. After graduation he applied his knowledge ofmetallurgy at John Dale & Co, the family metal engineering firm.[2] A collapsed lung kept him from war service but his firm specialised in the construction of airframes forLancaster bombers.[3]
In 1943, Carr married Joan Twining, and they had a son and two daughters. Their son, David, died in a traffic accident in 1965.[1]
Carr first sought the Conservative nomination inBarnet ahead of the 1950 election, but lost toReginald Maudling.[1] He was instead electedMember of Parliament forMitcham in 1950 and served there until 1974, when the seat was merged and he moved toCarshalton.[1] He was aparliamentary private secretary toAnthony Eden from to 1951 to 1955, and a parliamentary secretary to the labour ministry after Eden became prime minister.[1]
Carr was a supporter of theEuropean Economic Community, and was amiable toEdward Heath's election as Conservative Party leader in1965, even though he had supported Maudling despite Maudling having earlier defeated Carr for the Barnet nomination.[1] When Heath became prime minister in 1970, he served asSecretary of State for Employment and was responsible for the modernisingIndustrial Relations Act 1971, which balanced the introduction of compensation forunfair dismissal with curbs on the freedom tostrike and the virtual abolition ofclosed shop agreements. The Industrial Relations Act 1971 was deeply disliked bytrade unions, whose industrial action lead to thethree-day week and ultimately to the defeat of the Heath government.[1] The victorious Labour Party promptly repealed the Industrial Relations Act and replaced it with theTrade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974, which scrapped the "offensive" provisions but effectively re-enacted the remainder of Carr's 1971 Act.
In 1971, Carr escaped injury whenThe Angry Brigade anarchist group exploded two bombs outside his house.[4] More than thirty years later, a member of the group issued a public apology to Carr and sent him a Christmas card.[5]
In 1972, Carr served a brief period asLord President of the Council and then was appointedHome Secretary following Reginald Maudling's resignation. Following Heath's defeat in the first ballot of the1975 Conservative leadership contest, he asked Carr to "take over the functions of leader" until a new leader was elected.[6] The day after her election the new leader,Margaret Thatcher met with Carr, according to her at his request, before she formedshadow cabinet. According to her memoirs, Carr had been close to Heath and so she would have understood "if he did not relish the prospect of serving under" her. She stated that Carr made it clear that the only post that he would accept would be that ofShadow Foreign Secretary. She told him that she could not promise that and confided in her memoirs that at that stage, she was still considering appointments and was "not convinced" that she would offer Carr any role in the shadow cabinet. She proceeded to appoint Maudling as Shadow Foreign Secretary and saw Carr again later to inform him of her decision. In her memoirs, she speculated that Carr might have been "persuaded to stay in another capacity" but did not offer him the chance and noted, "I was not keen to have another strong opponent in any position on the team".[7]
In 1975, Carr co-founded theTory Reform Group.[1]
Carr was created alife peer asBaron Carr of Hadley, ofMonken Hadley inGreater London, in 1976.[8] He served on the board for a number of companies, includingCadbury Schweppes,Prudential Assurance (which he chaired from 1980 to 1985), andSecuricor.[1] From 1985 to 1986, he was president of theSurrey County Cricket Club.[1]
Carr died frombronchopneumonia at a nursing home inAlderley Edge, Cheshire, 17 February 2012, at the age of 95.[1] His body was buried in the graveyard ofSt. Peter's Church inFarmington,Gloucestershire. He was survived by his wife, Joan, and two daughters.[9]
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMitcham 1950–1974 | Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCarshalton 1974–1976 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byas Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity | Secretary of State for Employment 1970–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord President of the Council 1972 | Succeeded by |
| Leader of the House of Commons 1972 | ||
| Preceded by | Home Secretary 1972–1974 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
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