Patrick Robert Carter, Baron Carter of Coles (born 9 February 1946) is a Labour

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Early life and career

Carter was educated at

Brentwood School, Essex Brentwood School is a Selective school, selective, independent school (UK), independent day school, day and boarding school in Brentwood, Essex, Brentwood, Essex, England in the Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition. The scho ...

, where he was a contemporary of

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretar ...

. In his autobiography, Straw described Carter as his closest friend. Carter then studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

and joined an investment bank as a trainee after he graduated. In 1985, Carter founded Westminster Health Care, which provided radiology services as well as care to the elderly and those with special needs. He sold the healthcare provider in 1999. Carter has served on the boards of several US and UK healthcare, insurance and information technology companies. He was president of McKesson Corporation's International Operations Group and was responsible for the company's product portfolio. He is currently the chair of Primary Insurance Group and Health Services Laboratories.

Public service

Carter has advised the

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

on a wide range of issues. He helped resolve funding problems that surrounded Manchester's hosting of the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

. He was also the lead facilitator in the resolution of a major financial dispute between Multiplex Construction UK Ltd and Wembley National Stadium Ltd, when the

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

was redeveloped prior to its re-opening in 2007. Carter also led government reviews into the

Criminal Records Bureau In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Cane ...

, offender management, the procurement of legal aid, national athletics, public diplomacy, and pathology services. In his 2015 review of NHS spending, Carter argued that the NHS in England could save £5 billion a year through better staff organisation and an improved approach to purchasing. Carter was Chair of

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded partners, ...

from 2002 to 2006; a board member of the London 2012 Olympic bid; a member of HM Treasury’s Productivity Panel; and a non-executive member of the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

and Prisons Boards. He also chairs the procurement and efficiency board at the

Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the s ...

. Carter was ranked by the

Health Service Journal ''Health Service Journal'' (''HSJ'') is a news service that covers policy and management in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. History The '' Poor Law Officers' Journal'' was established in 1892. In 1930, it changed its name after ...

as the ninth most influential person in

NHS England NHS England, formally the NHS Commissioning Board for England, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning si ...

in 2015. In 2021, Carter was the only Labour member of the House of Lords to vote against an amendment to the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 that would have reduced existing long lease

ground rent As a legal term, ground rent specifically refers to regular payments made by a holder of a leasehold property to the freeholder or a superior leaseholder, as required under a lease. In this sense, a ground rent is created when a freehold piece of ...

s to a peppercorn, or zero financial value. In 2025, ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' reported that Carter was a freeholder, through The Freehold Corporation of which he was a director, of a 122-flat development in

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

, east

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with ground rent charges that increased every five years by the

retail price index In the United Kingdom, the Retail Prices Index or Retail Price Index (RPI) is a measure of inflation published monthly by the Office for National Statistics. It measures the change in the cost of a representative sample of retail goods and servi ...

, negatively affecting the mortgageability and saleability of leaseholders' homes.

Personal life

Carter is an active farmer in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

and has a villa in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Honours

Carter was made a

as Baron Carter of Coles, ''of

Westmill Westmill is an English village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, with an area of 1036 hectares. A population of 264 was recorded in the 2001 National Census. It lies just to the south of Buntingford, beside th ...

in the County of Hertfordshire'' on the advice of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

on 8 June 2004. He takes the Labour whip.

References

External links

Lord Carter's Review of Legal Aid ProcurementLord Carter's bio on the Official House of Lords websiteLord Carter of Coles
entry on

TheyWorkForYou TheyWorkForYou is a parliamentary monitoring website operated by mySociety which aims to make it easier for UK citizens to understand what is going on in Westminster, as well as the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assem ...

Carter, Patrick Robert People educated at Brentwood School, Essex Carter, Patrick Robert Carter of Coles, Patrick Carter, Baron Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham Life peers created by Elizabeth II {{Life-peer-stub