Nigel Wright, former chief of staff to Stephen Harper, took a leave of absence from Onex to join Mr. Harper’s team early in 2011 and became a key player in the Conservative government.

Nigel Wright, a long-time Onex executive and former chief of staff to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has died.

Onex Corporation announced his death in a statement Tuesday.

Mr. Wright joined the investment firm in 1997.

He then took a leave of absence to join Mr. Harper’s team early in 2011 and became a key player in the Conservative government.

But he resigned in 2013 in the midst of the Senate expenses scandal.

He subsequently returned to Onex, moving to the United Kingdom to join the firm’s operations there.

Company President Bobby Le Blanc called Mr. Wright a consummate gentleman who

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