William Hague

William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (pronounced HAIG; born 26 March 1961) is a British politician. He was Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He was the leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001. He was the Member of Parliament for the Richmond (York) constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

The Right Honourable The Lord Hague of Richmond PC
Leader of the House of Commons
In office 14 July 2014 – 8 May 2015
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Andrew Lansley
Succeeded by	Chris Grayling
First Secretary of State
In office 12 May 2010 – 8 May 2015
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Lord Mandelson
Succeeded by	George Osborne
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office 12 May 2010 – 14 July 2014
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	David Miliband
Succeeded by	Philip Hammond
Shadow Foreign Secretary
In office 6 December 2005 – 11 May 2010
Leader	David Cameron
Preceded by	Liam Fox
Succeeded by	David Miliband
Leader of the Opposition
In office 19 June 1997 – 13 September 2001
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Deputy	Peter Lilley Michael Portillo
Preceded by	John Major
Succeeded by	Iain Duncan Smith
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office 19 June 1997 – 13 September 2001
Preceded by	John Major
Succeeded by	Iain Duncan Smith
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
In office 2 May 1997 – 19 June 1997
Leader	John Major
Preceded by	Ron Davies
Succeeded by	Michael Ancram
Secretary of State for Wales
In office 5 July 1995 – 2 May 1997
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	David Hunt
Succeeded by	Ron Davies
Minister of State for the Disabled
In office 20 July 1994 – 5 July 1995
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	Nicholas Scott
Succeeded by	Alistair Burt
Member of Parliament for Richmond (Yorks)
In office 23 February 1989 – 7 May 2015
Preceded by	Leon Brittan
Succeeded by	Rishi Sunak
Majority	23,336 (43.7%)
Personal details
Born	William Jefferson Hague (1961-03-26) 26 March 1961 Rotherham, United Kingdom
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Ffion Jenkins (1997–present)
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford European Institute of Business Administration
Website	Parliamentary website Government website

William Hague was born in Rotherham in West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He first gained national attention when he spoke at the 1977 Conservative Party conference aged 16. He was educated at the University of Oxford. Hague first became a Member of Parliament at a by-election in 1989. In 1995, William Hague was made the Secretary of State for Wales until 1997 when the Conservatives lost the general election. He was elected as Conservative Party leader in 1997. Following the Conservative's defeat in the 2001 General Election, he resigned from the position and was succeeded by Iain Duncan Smith.

He went on to write biographies of William Pitt the Younger and William Wilberforce. In 2005, when David Cameron became the Conservative Party leader, Hague was made the Shadow Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State.

Hague became the Foreign Secretary after the 2010 election in the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition government. Issues that he was involved in included the Arab Spring and Syrian Civil War as well as the crisis in Crimea. Hague thinks Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be removed from power, and the Cameron government wanted to help the opposition with air strikes in 2013, but Parliament did not agree and the plans did not go forward. Hague did not run for reelection in the 2015 election and mostly retired from politics after that. He was made a member of the House of Lords as Baron Hague of Richmond, where he is a member today.

Awards

• The Spectator's "Parliamentarian of the Year Award" (1998)
• History Book of the Year in the 2005 British Book Awards, for William Pitt the Younger
• The Spectator's 'Speech of the Year Award' (2007)
• The Trustees Award at the 2008 Longman/History Today Awards
• Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (2009)