[2] Carter stood in the Lyttelton electorate in the 1993 election as a successor to Gail McIntosh, but was defeated by Labour's Ruth Dyson.

In November 2012 he approved the increased squid fishery SQU6T by 140%, despite recommendations from scientists and the Department of Conservation that this would be detrimental to the endangered New Zealand sealion.

[10] On 22 January 2013, the Prime Minister John Key[11] announced that Carter was his preference to replace Lockwood Smith as Speaker of the House.

[12] As the opposition was not consulted as per convention, Trevor Mallard was nominated by Labour and the position was put to a vote on 31 January 2013.

[15][16] Carter cited his intention to continue as Speaker, "if that is the will of Parliament", as the basis for his decision to stand as a list-only candidate in the 2014 general election.

[17] On 10 November 2015, Carter controversially failed to acknowledge offence caused to significant numbers of Labour and Green MPs after John Key had accused them of "backing rapists" during a debate about the Christmas Island Detention Centre.

[24] In mid-October 2018, Carter confirmed that he along with fellow National MP Chris Finlayson would retire before the next general election.

[25] In late July 2020, Carter submitted a private member's bill seeking to repeal the Labour-led government's Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Act 2018.

[28] In the 2021 New Year Honours, Carter was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services as a Member of Parliament and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

He stated that he has "zero confidence" in Goodfellow, criticising the alleged "dysfunctional governance" of the party and lack of money to run a suitable campaign.