Robert Carr

Who was Robert Carr?

Leonard Robert Carr, Baron Carr of Hadley, PC was a British Conservative Party politician.

Robert Carr was educated at Westminster School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he read Natural Sciences, graduating in 1938. After graduation he applied his knowledge of Metallurgy at John Dale & Co, the family metal engineering firm.

He was elected Member of Parliament for Mitcham in 1950 and served there until 1974 when the seat was merged and he moved to Carshalton. In Edward Heath's government he served as Secretary of State for Employment and was responsible for the Industrial Relations Act 1971, which balanced the introduction of compensation for unfair dismissal with curbs on the freedom to strike and the virtual abolition of closed shop agreements.

In 1971 he escaped injury when The Angry Brigade anarchist group exploded two bombs outside his house. More than thirty years later a member of the group issued a public apology to Carr, and sent him a Christmas card.

In 1972 he served a brief period as Lord President of the Council and was then appointed Home Secretary after the resignation of Reginald Maudling. After his defeat in the first ballot of the 1975 Conservative leadership contest, Edward Heath asked Carr to "take over the functions of leader" until a new leader was elected.