William Hague is Richmond's MP (member of Parliament). On June 19, 1997 at the age of 36 he became leader of the Conservative Party (currently in opposition to the Labour Government). Not since William Pitt the Younger who became First Minister in 1773 at the age of 24 has their been a younger leader of a major political party.
The former Conservative Government faired rather badly in the last general election. In fact it was their worst defeat since 1906. William Hague taking over from the outgoing John Major quickly embarked on radical changes in an attempt to reverse the fortunes of the beleaguered party.
Hague was born on March 26, 1961, at Rotherham, Yorkshire, into a family that ran a small soft-drink business. He attended local schools--like John Major, his immediate predecessor as Conservative leader, but unlike most prominent Tories. At the age of 12, Hague sold his collection of toy soldiers and began devoting his attention to politics.
When only 16 he spoke at his first Conservative Party conference. His confident attack on the then Labour Government and his pronounced northern accent drew the attention of the media and impressed Margaret Thatcher who was shortly destined to becomes Britain's first woman Prime Minister.
Hague pursued his interest in politics by reading philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Oxford. His duties as president of the Oxford Union debating society did not prevent him from obtaining a first-class honours degree. Following graduation he joined the Shell Oil Company as a management trainee but after only a year was recruited by the management consultants McKinsey and Co.
Whilst holidaying with his girlfriend (now wife Ffion) he visited Richmond and thought it an ideal seat for an MP. Richmond at the time however was held by Sir Leon Brittan and it seemed unlikely to be available in the near term. As luck would have it Sir Leon left Richmond two years later to enter European politics. Thus in February 1989 William Hague was selected to contest a by-election in the "safe" Conservative seat of Richmond, North Yorkshire.
Within two years he had become parliamentary private secretary to the chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont. When John Major, by then prime minister, appointed him secretary of state for Wales in 1995, the 34-year-old Hague became Britain's youngest Cabinet minister since Harold Wilson in 1947. The initial view in Wales was probably less than positive, Hague had little track record, was not Welsh and indeed had no connections with Wales (not trivial points to the Welsh). Hague however won the respect of his new constituents and was noted for his sympathy, good humour, and intelligence.
In May 1997, following the party's heavy defeat by the renewed Labour Party under Tony Blair, Major announced his resignation as Conservative Party leader. One of the men widely expected to take over, Michael Portillo, had lost his seat in the election and was out of the running. That Portillo lost his seat and yet had been considered as the natural successor to John Major is perhaps an indicator of the degree to which the Conservatives had lost touch with public opinion and a measure of the difficulties they faced. Other contenders from the party's right wing also had their detractors. Hague however stood on a centre-right, though strongly Euroskeptic platform and finally won on the third ballot.
Hague then set about reviving his party's fortunes. He announced a series of reforms, similar to those implemented by Labour in the 1980s and early '90s, to bring greater internal democracy to his party, including giving local party members a say in future leadership elections. In October, at his first party conference as Conservative leader, Hague sought to soften the party's image by declaring his support for more compassionate policies. He also advocated "understanding and tolerance of people making their own decisions about how they lead their lives," including accepting the rights of people to have gay relationships or to bear and raise children outside marriage. Hague's speech marked a clear break with the strictly pro-family ethos of the Thatcher years.
It has been asserted on numerous occasions that in the UK there is a "North-South" divide. It is interesting therefore that for the first time in recent history the respective leaders of the Government and Opposition, Tony Blair and William Hague are both from this area. In fact their constituencies are just a few miles apart.
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Primary Source & citation:
"Book of the Year (1998): Biography: Hague, William Jefferson" (by Peter Kellner) Britannica Online.
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