Montreal-born Conrad Black had voted only 20 times since being appointed in 2001 to the House of Lords, with all those votes having occurred in the first two years of his appointment.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
Britain’s House of Lords has removed former media magnate Conrad Black over his lack of attendance at one of the oldest institutions in the world – a membership he renounced his Canadian citizenship to attain more than two decades ago.
On Wednesday, Speaker Lord John McFall listed Lord Black of Crossharbour as one of six peers officially removed from the upper chamber the day prior owing to non-attendance. Montreal-born Mr. Black had voted only 20 times since being appointed in 2001 to the House of Lords, after which the Canadian Senate is modelled. All those votes occurred in the first two years of his appointment.
Mr. Black did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment Wednesday evening.
To accept former British prime minister Tony Blair’s offer of peerage, Mr. Black had to renounce his Canadian citizenship in 2001 after a very public fight over the matter with then-Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien. He had previously attempted to sue Mr. Chrétien for blocking him from taking the role.
Mr. Black’s attendance in London was interrupted by his legal troubles in the United States. In 2007 he faced a four-month trial after being charged with multiple counts of fraud for his business practices at newspaper publisher Hollinger International Inc., which he founded in the 1960s. Mr. Black and four other executives faced allegations of misappropriating money from the Chicago-based media company that at its peak owned hundreds of newspapers across Canada, the United States, Britain and Israel, including the National Post and British newspaper The Telegraph.
Mr. Black was found guilty in 2007 on three counts of mail fraud and one for obstruction of justice. He was originally sentenced to 6½ years in prison and spent just over 3½ years at a correctional complex in Florida before he was released as he pursued various appeals.
Those appeals largely succeeded, with his charges eventually overturned, save one charge each of fraud and obstruction. He has been living in Toronto since his release in 2012.
In 2019, Donald Trump granted a full pardon to his long-time friend and one-time business partner who has written a biography and numerous columns lauding the former U.S. president and current candidate.
Mr. Black called his pardon a vindication and complete exoneration.
“This completes the destruction of the spurious prosecution of me,” he said at the time.
Last year, Mr. Black, who still writes opinion pieces for the National Post, said he had regained his Canadian citizenship. In an interview with the newspaper, Mr. Black said he fully intended to return as a sitting member of the House of Lords.
“I have been an inactive member, but I have been invited to return as an active Conservative peer and I do intend to do that,” he said. “I just haven’t gotten around to it, but I will. I will be relaunching my career as a legislator.”