William Hague
| Baron Hague of Richmond link Facebook Powerbase Sourcewatch Twitter Website Wikiquote | |
|---|---|
| File:William Hague1.jpg | |
| Born | William Jefferson Hague 1961-03-26 Rotherham, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford, INSEAD |
| Religion | Anglicanism |
| Spouse | Ffion Jenkins |
| Party | Conservative |
Described Le Cercle as "a political group which organises conferences." | |
William Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British Conservative politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond in Yorkshire from 1989 to 2015. He was also Leader of the House of Commons from 2014 to 2015, as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2010 to 2014,[1] and as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001.
On 14 July 2014, Hague stood down as Foreign Secretary to become Leader of the House of Commons in preparation for his planned retirement from parliament, after 26 years as an MP, at the 2015 General Election,[2] in which he did not stand for re-election.
Hague was nominated for a life peerage in August 2015.[3][4]
Meteoric rise
Hague was educated at Wath-upon-Dearne Grammar School, the University of Oxford and INSEAD at Fontainebleau in France, eventually being elected to the House of Commons in a by-election in 1989. Hague quickly rose through the ranks of the Major Government and was appointed to the Cabinet in 1995 as Secretary of State for Wales. Following a landslide defeat in the 1997 General Election to the Labour Party, he was elected Leader of the Conservative Party at the age of 36.
Resignation
He resigned as Conservative leader after the 2001 General Election following a second landslide defeat, at which the Conservatives only made a net gain of one seat; he thus became the first leader of the party since the role came into being in the early 1920s not to become Prime Minister.[5] He returned to the backbenches, beginning a career as an author, writing biographies of William Pitt the Younger and William Wilberforce. He also held several directorships, and worked as a consultant and public speaker.
After David Cameron was elected Leader of the Conservative Party in 2005, Hague rejoined the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Foreign Secretary. He also took on the role of "Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet", effectively serving as Cameron's deputy.
Return to power
After the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010, Hague was appointed First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary. Cameron described him as his "de facto political deputy".[6]
Deep politics
Hague is an attendee of Le Cercle, describing it as "a political group which organises conferences."[7]
References
- ↑ http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/topstorynews/2010/05/her-majestys-government-49840
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/14/cabinet-reshuffle-william-hague-tory-government
- ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dissolution-peerages-2015
- ↑ "Cameron announces 26 new Tory peers in dissolution honours"
- ↑ "Lord Carr of Hadley". Telegraph (19 February 2012). Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- ↑ "William Hague quits as foreign secretary in cabinet reshuffle", BBC News, 15 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014
- ↑ "Overseas Visits"