William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician and life peer who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond (Yorks) in North Yorkshire from 1989 to 2015. He served in the Cameron government as First Secretary of State from 2010 to 2015, Foreign Secretary from 2010 to 2014, and Leader of the House of Commons from 2014 to 2015.
Portrait adapted from
Wikimedia Commons, U.S. Department of State (Public domain / CC0)
Also Known As
Alternative Names:
William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond
I don’t envy the remaining Tory MPs. It was a hard job in 1997 and this time it will be even tougher. There's a moment when you understand you face the challenge of your lifetime, but that's a sign you’ve only just begun to grasp it. For the Conservative Party, the next big move can start a recovery or bring extinction.
Many of them [European politicians] believe our ultimate objective should be the creation of a single European state, and that this is an inevitable destiny. I believe they are wrong. There is a limit to European political integration. We are near that limit now.
For the first time in history at Question Time, all three parties are represented by a stand-in for the real leader.
