William Edward John McCarthy, Baron McCarthy (30 July 1925 – 18 November 2012)[1][2] was a British Labour politician. McCarthy was a fellow of Nuffield College and Templeton College, Oxford[3] and a specialist in industrial relations. He was created a life peer on 19 January 1976 as Baron McCarthy, of Headington in the City of Oxford.[4] From 1979 to 1997 he was Opposition Spokesperson for Employment. McCarthy was described as "one of Britain’s most influential academics in the field of industrial relations, a painstaking arbiter in the most testing of disputes.. "[5]
McCarthy grew up in Islington, London and attended Holloway County School (now Holloway School).[6] He worked in a gentlemen's outfitter, where he was a representative of the USDAW trade union, which sponsored him to study for a diploma at Ruskin College, Oxford. In 1955 he matriculated at Merton College, Oxford, taking a first class honours degree in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) in 1957 before going on to read for a DPhil at Nuffield College, Oxford, where he held a research fellowship from 1959 to 1963.[7][8]
In 1965 he was appointed research director at the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations. The commission was established by the Wilson government and led ultimately to the "In Place of Strife" reform proposals of 1969. McCarthy led on a wide range of research projects, including work on the election of shop stewards.[5]
In 1978 McCarthy arbitrated in a dispute brought by the rail union, ASLEF over bonus payments for the drivers of the high-speed Advanced Passenger Train.[5]
McCarthy was a supporter of the British Humanist Association.