Stephen Andrew Carter, Baron Carter of Barnes, CBE (born 12 February 1964), is a Scottish former businessman and politician who was previously Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting in the United Kingdom Government.

[edit] Biography

Born in Scotland, Carter was educated at Currie High School, Edinburgh. From 1982-87 he studied a law degree at the University of Aberdeen, where he graduated with LLB Hons and was the student president in 1985-86. He later attended the London Business School, Leading The Firm programme in 1995; and Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program in 1997.

[edit] Career

After graduation from the University of Aberdeen, he started as a trainee with the advertising agency J Walter Thompson UK. He was made Managing Director in 1995 and Chief Executive two years later. In 2000, Carter became Chief Operating Officer of UK cable TV company NTL, guiding the company to establish a leading position in the UK broadband market.^{[citation needed]} As a NYSE listed company, he also presided over the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings of NTL, which at the time had debts of £12bn.^[1] Carter left NTL at the end of 2002 as the Group was poised to exit Chapter 11, with a payoff of £1.7m in compensation, including a £600,000 bonus. The company resolved a class action law suit brought by shareholders by paying out $9Million in compensation in late 2007,^[2]

On 21 January 2003, Carter was named as the first chief executive of UK media watchdog Ofcom. He stepped down in October 2006 and was succeeded by Ed Richards,before taking the top job at Brunswick Group as Group Chief Executive. Brunswick's clients included amongst others BP, British Airways, BT Group, and EMI.^[3]

In January 2008, Carter became Prime Minister Gordon Brown's chief of strategy and principal adviser in 10 Downing Street.^[4][5] To take up his new role, he had to step down from his positions as group chief executive at Brunswick Group LLP; non-executive director positions at Royal Mail Holdings plc and Travis Perkins; and as a commissioner of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

In October 2008, Carter was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting. He served jointly in the DBIS (formerly DBERR) and the DCMS, and on the Prime Minister's National Economic Council.^[6]

Because Carter was not a Member of Parliament, it was necessary to appoint him to the House of Lords.^[7] As a result, he was created Baron Carter of Barnes, of Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and was introduced in the Lords on 16 October 2008 by Lord Currie and Lord Puttnam.He served in the House of lords on the front beach in his capacity as Minister.

Lord Carter was appointed Chair of Ashridge business school and is a Vice-President of Unicef

^[8]

[edit] Resignation

Lord Carter announced June 11 2009 that he would be resigning^[9] from his ministerial post following the publication of his Digital Britain^[10] report, just 18 months into his political career. The news, which the Government intended to keep secret, was leaked to the press.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Lord Carter of Barnes entry on TheyWorkForYou