He was created a life peer on 19 January 1976 as Baron McCarthy, of Headington in the City of Oxford.
[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.
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.