The ostentatiously erudite Canadian magnate yearns for the days of heroism. And indeed, his staunchly conservative attitudes seem drawn from an earlier era that prized principle over pragmatism. His company, Hollinger International, owns or has an interest in 77 dailies, including the Chicago Sun-Times, The Jerusalem Post and The Daily Telegraph.
The Telegraph retains a fierce pro-Union position on Northern Ireland, an uncompromising anti-Labour line and a strong anti-European slant. Where Blair positions himself as a link between America and Europe, Black has pushed for closer ties to the States and calls for Britain to join the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Telegraph bashes even popular Blair policies like Chancellor Gordon Brown’s recent please-everyone pre-election budget. GORDON THE DISHER-OUT OF REWARDS FOR THE DESERVING, it mocked. But Black’s sentiments haven’t helped the Tories. The Telegraph’s hard line, says columnist Hugo Young, “makes it very hard for a centrist Tory like [William Hague] to redirect the party.”
Black calls London home for much of the year. He and his wife, columnist Barbara Amiel, are fixtures at swell parties, despite the fact their hard-line conservatism is no longer fashionable. “There’s no need for the radical right,” says media writer Roy Greenslade. “Their job is done. They’ve pulled the Labour Party–and indeed the world–back from its socialist ideals.” Perhaps. But as Black’s hero Napoleon well knew, it’s hard for an old soldier to hang up his sword.
