Peer of the Week: Lord Black of Crossharbour
Author: Jack Maizels
Published on Jul 18, 2012
Our Peer of the Week series aims to shed some light on the members of the House of Lords who contribute to making laws in the UK. Each week, we’ll look at the chosen Peer’s background, voting and attendance records as well as any controversy associated with their actions, and question whether these really are the best people to be involved in the legislative process.
Who he is:
- A currently non-affiliated Member of the House of Lords, he was born Conrad Moffat Black in Montreal, Canada, though is now a British citizen
- He was made a life peer in 2001 as Baron Black of Crossharbour, originally sitting on the Conservative benches
- At the peak of his career, he was the CEO, chairman and owner of media company Hollinger International and was the third biggest media magnate in the world
- At the time, Hollinger owned the UK broadsheet, the Daily Telegraph, and the American newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times, though have since renamed as Sun-Times Media Group and sold the Telegraph Group to the Barclay brothers for $1.65bn (£1.07bn) in 2004
Attendance and Voting Records:
- Since becoming a Peer in October 2001, Lord Black has voted on 20 occasions, just 1.4% of possible votes
- He has never voted against the rest of his party and has not voted since July 2003
- His most notable votes were for the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Bill in 2001, against allowing non-married couples to adopt in 2002, and against House of Lords reform in 2003
Controversy:
- In 2003, he was forced to step down as CEO of Hollinger International after a company investigation into claims he fraudulently siphoned off money through the sale of assets and unauthorised transactions
- He was later dismissed as chairman, which was followed by several lawsuits between him and the firm, before he was finally charged in 2005 with defrauding Hollinger International shareholders of $6.1m (£3.9m)
- Two years later he was found guilty of criminal fraud and obstructing justice and was sentenced to 6½ years in a US prison, with the Conservative Party withdrawing their whip as a result
- The sentence was later reduced by 3 years following an appeal and he was eventually released in May 2012, 5 months early due to good behaviour, after which he returned to his native Canada
- His return was viewed as controversial, as he renounced his Canadian citizenship in order for him to be able to take his seat in the Lords over a decade prior, due to a legal dispute with then Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
- Despite of his criminal conviction, Lord Black is still a member of the House of Lords and faced no suspension following his imprisonment