Born in Tipton, Carter left school at fifteen and worked as a bricklayer while still illiterate.
[1] Graham Stevenson claims that Carter was briefly involved with fascist street gangs, possibly the Union Movement,[2] but he met Norma Harris in 1958, marrying her in 1962, and she influenced him to join the Young Communist League.
He opposed the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968,[1] but this did not halt his rise in the party, and he stood in the 1970 general election against Enoch Powell in Wolverhampton South West.
In Birmingham, he led a successful campaign to abolish casual labour on Bryant Estates sites, and to improve wages,[1] drawing attention by occupying The Rotunda.
[1] In 1982, the CPGB appointed Carter as its National Industrial Organiser,[2] but conflict between him and Arthur Scargill meant work was difficult during the UK miners' strike.