Michael Carr (27 May 1947 – 20 July 1990) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Bootle for 57 days in 1990 from his election until his death.
He was a dockworker who later became a trade union official, but his political rise was assisted by the help he gave the Labour Party leadership in removing the influence of the Militant tendency.
His sudden death occurred after he had been sent home from hospital where staff failed to identify an imminent heart attack; prosecutions were considered and his family sought legal redress.
[2] In 1990 when Allan Roberts, the MP for Bootle, died of cancer, Carr was shortlisted for the candidacy along with Joe Benton, Mike Hall and Josie Farrington.
[2] He easily won the by-election to replace Roberts, on 24 May 1990; Carr told the press afterwards that the Labour Party had treated the constituency as a marginal and had not just campaigned on issues like the Poll Tax but also on bus deregulation, which had hit people living on the outskirts of the town.
[5] He later tackled Sir Geoffrey Howe, then Leader of the House of Commons, asking for a proper method of induction for new Members of Parliament to be put in place ready for the next general election.
Carr had a heart attack and fell into a coma; efforts to revive him in the Accident and Emergency department of Walton Hospital were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 11:50 pm.
When the full story emerged, the Merseyside coroner Roy Barter postponed the inquest to consider criminal charges for negligence against some of the health care personnel involved.
The Director of Public Prosecutions decided that no charges should be brought and the inquest was resumed on 9 April 1992, when the coroner again postponed the hearing after referring three points of law to the High Court.