Political career 1946–1982
In 1938, Carington succeeded his father as 6th Baron Carrington. Although he had the right to take his seat in the House of Lords on his 21st birthday in 1940, since he was on active service he did not do so until 9 October 1945.[15] After leaving the Army, Carington took an active part in the House of Lords and from November 1951 to October 1954 served in the Conservative governments of Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden as Parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Food. He was also appointed as a deputy lieutenant of Buckinghamshire on 2 July 1951.[16] During the Crichel Down affair, which led to the resignation of minister Thomas Dugdale, Carington tendered his resignation, which was refused by the Prime Minister. Carington was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence from October 1954 to October 1956, and was then appointed High Commissioner to Australia, a post he held until October 1959. He became a Privy Counsellor in 1959.[17] Following his return to Britain he served under Harold Macmillan as First Lord of the Admiralty until October 1963.[18] In this role, Carington worked with Lord Mountbatten, who was Chief of the Defence Staff, during a time of major restructuring and reform of the Admiralty.[19] After Alec Douglas-Home became prime minister in October 1963, Carington held the posts of minister without portfolio and Leader of the House of Lords until October 1964, when the general election led to a change of government. From 1964 to 1970 he was Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords.
When the Conservatives returned to power in 1970 under Edward Heath, Carington became Defence Secretary, where he remained until the February 1974 general election. In a 1977 letter discussing the policy of torture of Irish republican internees during Operation Demetrius in August 1971, the then Home Secretary Merlyn Rees attributed the origins of the policy to Carington: '"It is my view (confirmed by Brian Faulkner before his death [NI's prime minister at the time]) that the decision to use methods of torture in Northern Ireland in 1971/72 was taken by ministers – in particular Lord Carrington, then secretary of state for defence."[20][21]
Carington became shadow defence secretary in 1968 after Enoch Powell was dismissed, following his controversial Rivers of Blood speech on immigration.[22] He also served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1972 to 1974, and was briefly Secretary of State for Energy from January to March 1974.
Carington was again leader of the opposition in the House of Lords from 1974 to 1979. In 1979 he was made Foreign Secretary and Minister for Overseas Development in the first cabinet of Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher spoke highly of Carington, stating that "Peter had great panache and the ability to identify immediately the main points in any argument; and he could express himself in pungent terms. We had disagreements, but there were never any hard feelings."[23]
Carington chaired the Lancaster House conference in 1979, attended by Ian Smith, Abel Muzorewa, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo and Josiah Tongogara, which brought to an end Rhodesia's Bush War. He later expressed his support for Mugabe over Smith.[24]
Carington was primarily responsible for ensuring the 1982 Canada Act passed the House of Lords. Under the provisions of the act, which received Royal Assent on 29 March 1982, the British Parliament renounced any future role in amending the Canadian constitution, a process known in the former dominion as patriation.
Carington was foreign secretary when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982. He resigned his position on 5 April, taking full responsibility for the complacency of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in its failure to foresee this development[25] and for the misleading signals sent by the Foreign Office on British intentions for retaining control over the Falklands.[26] In her autobiography, Margaret Thatcher later expressed her sorrow at his departure.[27] She had asked him to stay but he left because he and the Foreign Office were distrusted and even hated by many back-bench Conservatives.[28]
Lord Carrington was the most recent hereditary peer to hold one of the four Great Offices of State.[29]
