Raymond John Carter (17 September 1935 – 2 July 2020) was a Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Birmingham Northfield Birmingham Northfield is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Laurence Turner, a Labour politician. It represents the southernmost part of the city of Birmingham. Boundaries 1950–1955: The Coun ...

from 1970 to 1979. From 1980 to 2003, he was executive at the

Marathon Oil Company The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road running, road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk str ...

, for whom he was also a director from 1983 to 2003.

Early life and career

Carter was born in September 1935, the son of John Carter and Nellie Carter (''née'' Woodcock). He was educated at

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes, London, Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes ...

Secondary School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Reading Technical College Reading College is a further education college based in Reading, Berkshire, England. It has over 8,500 local learners on over 900 courses. The Kings Road site that is the principal location of Reading College has been used for further education ...

and

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

College of Technology, becoming an electrical engineer. From 1953 to 1955, he undertook

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

, and then worked as a technical assistant at the

Sperry Gyroscope Company Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the 20th century. Sperry ceased to exist in 1986 following a prolonged hostile takeover bid engineered by Burroughs ...

. In 1965, he moved to work for the

Central Electricity Generating Board The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Januar ...

Political career

Carter joined the Labour Party and served as a councillor on

Easthampstead Rural District Easthampstead is a former village and now a southern suburb of the town of Bracknell, in the civil parish of Bracknell, in the Bracknell Forest district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. The old village can still be easily ident ...

Council from 1963 to 1968. He unsuccessfully contested

Wokingham Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...

at the

1966 United Kingdom general election The 1966 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 31 March 1966. The result was a landslide victory for the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party led by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson decided to ...

, and was also unsuccessful in the 1968 Warwick and Leamington by-election. Carter was the Member of Parliament for

from 1970 to 1979, and from 1974 to 1976 served on the

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; , UEO; , WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (alliance) , Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 Treaty of Brussels. The WEU implement ...

and the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

. He was then a junior minister for the

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...

until 1979. He was a member of the

Public Accounts Committee A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...

from 1973 to 1974, and of the Parliamentary

Science and Technology Committee The Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The original Science and Technology Committee was abolished upon the creation of the Innovation, Univ ...

from 1974 to 1976. He was the author of the Congenital Disabilities (Civil Liability) Act in 1976. Carter unexpectedly lost his seat – which he had won by a 20% majority or 10,597 votes in the previous election – to the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Jocelyn Cadbury Jocelyn Benedict Laurence Cadbury (3 March 1946 – 31 July 1982) was a British Conservative Party politician. Early life and education Jocelyn Cadbury was born in Birmingham in 1946, the son of Laurence Cadbury and Joyce (), and the younger ...

at the 1979 general election, losing by just 204 votes (a margin of 0.3%) on a swing of 10.2%.

Outside Parliament

Carter was a member of the General Advisory Council at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

from 1974 to 1976. He was also a member of the Interim Advisory Committee (Teachers' Pay and Conditions) for the

Department of Education and Science An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

from 1987 to 1991. From 1991 to 1993, he was Deputy Chairman of the School Teachers' Review Body. In 1991, he was awarded a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. In 1983, Carter was a co-cataloguer and exhibitor on the works of

Sir John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

. He was also a Trustee of the

British Museum (Natural History) The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum and ...

from 1986 to 1996, and in 1991, he became a Patron for the Guild of Handicraft Trust. That year also saw him becoming a member of the Development Committee at the

Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, and Patricia Cumper is ...

, a role he held until 2001. He was a Governor at Wexham and Heatherwood Hospitals NHS Trust from 2011 to 2014.

Personal life and death

In 1959, he married Jeanette Hills; they had a son and two daughters. In ''Who's Who'', he listed his recreations as "walking, reading, writing". Carter lived in

Bracknell Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. He died aged 84 in July 2020.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979'' *''The Almamac of British Politics'' 1999 *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Raymond 1935 births 2020 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Berkshire UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 Northern Ireland Office junior ministers