Lord Hague of Richmond

Full Biography
Daily Telegraph Column
For speaking engagements please visit jla.co.uk

For speaking engagements please visit jla.co.uk
William J Hague
Biography
Lord Hague was first elected to Parliament for the seat of Richmond, North Yorkshire, at a by-election in 1989. At 27 years old he was the youngest Conservative Member of Parliament. He was re-elected a further five times to Parliament, on the last three occasions with the largest margin for any Conservative in the country.
Within two years of entering Parliament Lord Hague had become Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1993 he became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security. He was promoted the following year to Minister of State with responsibility for Social Security and Disabled People. He introduced the landmark Disability Discrimination Act in 1995.
Prime Minister John Major appointed him Secretary of State for Wales in the same year making him, at 34, Britain’s youngest cabinet minister since Harold Wilson in 1947.
Lord Hague became leader of the Conservative Party after the 1997 General Election, making him, at 36, the youngest leader of a major political party in the United Kingdom in 200 years.
He set about reforming his party, including giving local party members a decisive say in future leadership elections. He led his party to victory in the European elections of 1999 and was widely credited for leading a successful campaign against the country joining the Euro. He stood down as leader following the re-election of Tony Blair at the 2001 General Election.
Lord Hague led the negotiations with the Liberal Democrats following the 2010 General Election that led to the creation of the Coalition Government. During his tenure as Foreign Secretary, Lord Hague dealt with one of the most tumultuous periods in modern history with unrest across the Middle East, and crises in Europe.
He set about reviving the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, opening new embassies in Latin America and Africa, expanding Britain’s presence in China and India, re-opening the language school, establishing the Diplomatic Academy, and personally visiting 83 countries.
In 2012 Lord Hague launched the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative with UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Angelina Jolie Pitt, to address the culture of impunity that exists for crimes of sexual violence in conflict, and increase the number of perpetrators held to account.
After four years as Foreign Secretary, in July 2014 he declared his intentions to step down from front-line politics at the 2015 General Election, becoming Leader of the House of Commons in his final 10 months in Government, and retaining his position as First Secretary of State.
Lord Hague has written two very successful and critically acclaimed political biographies: of William Pitt the Younger, which won the History Book of the Year prize in 2005, and William Wilberforce: The Life of the Great Anti-Slave Trade Campaigner. He is a fortnightly columnist for The Daily Telegraph.
On 17th September 2015 Lord Hague became a director of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. He is also a member of ICE Futures Europe and became its chair on 1st January 2016. His other business interests include chairing the International Advisory Group of Linklaters LLP, a leading global law firm, and he is a Senior Adviser to global advisory firm Teneo. From September 1st he has chaired the security and defence think-tank, the Royal United Services Institute. In January 2017 Lord Hague became a Senior Adviser to Citi Group.
Lord Hague is currently chairing the United for Wildlife Taskforce which is tackling the trafficking of illegal wildlife products, as part of a collaboration of seven conservation organisations and The Royal Foundation. In March 2016 he was made an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Lord Hague of Richmond
Daily Telegraph Column
- ‘A second Brexit referendum would tear this country apart. Remainers like me must accept that we lost’ 23rd October 2017
- ‘If Donald Trump scraps the Iran deal, other countries will never be able to trust America again’ 9th October 2017
- ‘Caution won’t defeat a rampant Left. The Tories must be radical to renew themselves once again’, 2nd October 2017
- ‘The far Right’s humbling of Angela Merkel is a wake-up call for complacent Europe’, 25th September 2017
- ‘There’s no point Tories arguing about who should be PM – at this rate it will be Jeremy Corbyn’, 18th September 2017
- ‘Come on, Aung San Suu Kyi, there is no defence for mass murder’, 11th September 2017
- It is mad to rule out diplomacy with North Korea – Kim Jong-un has us over a nuclear barrel’, 4th September 2017
- ‘The EU is having fun giving us the runaround – but sooner or later it will have to get flexible’, 28th August 2017
- ‘Central bankers must unwind the easy money monster they created’, 21st August 2017
- ‘World leaders asked for months how we would get around Brexit. Chancellor’s transition plan can keep it on track’, 1st August 2017
- ‘Hosting Donald Trump has done France proud. Britain should take note’, 17th July 2017
- ‘Bringing down this government for an ideologically pure Brexit would be unforgivable madness’, 10th July 2017
- ‘The Tories don’t need to embrace a pale imitation of Corbynism to win over the young’ 3rd July 2017
- ‘Britain can prosper outside the EU – but self-belief does not involve being blind to our own faults’ 26th June 2017
- ‘Brexit will defeat the Government unless it recognises that everything has changed’ 12th June 2017
- ‘We have serious lessons to learn from this election, but it’s not the time for a leadership battle’ 9th June 2017
- ‘Safe havens abroad, encrypted communications, and Prime Minister Corbyn: a terrorist’s wishlist’ 6th June 2017
- ‘The one way to turn Brexit into a certain disaster would be electing Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister’, 29th May 2017
- ‘Honesty is the best policy – and it is only the Conservative manifesto that offers it’, 23rd May 2017
- ‘Theresa May is following the great Tory tradition of killing off Britain’s minor parties’, 15th May 2017
- ‘Emmanuel Macron thinks he can save the EU, but the coming migration crisis might break it first’, 8th May 2017
- ‘If social media giants want to decry tight regulation, they should take some responsibility first’, 2nd May 2017
- ‘Tony Blair is a maestro, but even he should respect Theresa May’s mandate on Brexit’, 24th April 2017
- ‘Theresa May’s bold election call is all about securing the best Brexit deal for Britain’, 18th April 2017
- ‘The case for an early general election: Theresa May should be free to put her Brexit plans to the people’, 18th April 2017
- ‘Europe drove Turkey towards an autocrat. We cannot now turn our backs on his people’ 17th April 2017
- ‘Russia is a nation in decline, stuck with a Cold War KGB mindset – the West must treat it as such’, 10th April 2017
- ‘North Korea offers Donald Trump a chance to prove he is the ultimate deal maker’, 3rd April 2017
- ‘Too many in Europe still think Brexit can be stopped. We must show them we are serious‘, 27th March 2017
- ‘Sean Spicer’s GCHQ smears have revealed his deep ignorance and indifference to the truth’, 21st March 2017
- ‘Nicola Sturgeon’s timing is a cynical ploy to take advantage of Brexit uncertainty’, 13th March 2017
- ‘The case for an early general election: Theresa May should be free to put her Brexit plans to the people‘, 6th March 2017
- ‘Dear Jeremy Corbyn, take it from me – now is the time to resign’, 27th Feb 2017
- ‘The next Speaker of the House must repair John Bercow’s damage by reasserting the importance of impartiality’ 14th February 2017
- ‘The rule of law differentiates the United States from Russia – Trump would do well to respect it’ 6th February 2017
- ‘The Queen has dealt with dictators and despots – she’ll take a visit from Donald Trump in her stride’, 31st January 2017
- ‘The special relationship is our only indispensable alliance. Theresa May and Donald Trump must renew it’, 23rd January 2017
- ‘My five-point plan for Theresa May that can make hard Brexit a success’, 17th January 2017
- ‘EU workers, yes. Benefits, no: my terms for Brexit if I were Prime Minister’, 9th January 2017
- ‘Just like in the 1980s, Theresa May faces chaos from militant unions. And just like Margaret Thatcher, she must not flinch’, 20th December 2016
- ‘Putin’s game is to neuter and divide the West – and he is succeeding’, 12th December 2016
- ‘The euro has trapped poor countries like Italy in a failed experiment. It must give them an exit – or collapse’, 5th December 2016
- ‘The question that will reveal whether Donald Trump will be a terrible president’, 21st November 2016
- ‘After Donald Trump’s victory, Europe and the US must stand together: or the West will fall’, 14th November 2016
- ‘My six-point memo to President Trump’, 9th November 2016
- ‘Theresa May needs to have a plan up her sleeve on invoking Article 50’, 7th November 2016
- ‘To soothe Brexit jitters Philip Hammond must go beyond Heathrow – and launch a bold new infrastructure plan’, 24th October 2016
- ‘Central bankers have collectively lost the plot. They must raise interest rates or face their doom’, 18th October 2016
- ‘Female equality is key to the world’s future. Donald Trump’s misogyny alone disqualifies him’, 10th October 2016
- ‘How Theresa May can deliver the Goldilocks solution to Brexit: neither soft nor hard but the one that serves the country best’, 3rd October 2016
- ‘Moderate Labour rebels have been utterly hopeless. They should follow this plan to oust Jeremy Corbyn’ 26th September 2016
- ‘Scrapping the Royal Yacht Britannia was self-defeating, short-sighted Blairite point-scoring. Bring it back ‘, 19th September 2016
- ‘The Hillary I know has the stamina and intelligence for the toughest job’, 12th September 2016
- ‘David Cameron is a great talent – but he had to stand down as an MP’, 12th September 2016
- ‘How could we ever face our children if we allow the world’s elephants to be massacred?’, 5th September 2016
- ‘A second EU referendum is a seductive idea – but a bad and dangerous one’, 29th August 2016
- ‘Jeremy Corbyn is a symptom, not the cause of Labour’s total lack of direction’, 9th August 2016
- ‘The sun may be setting on the age of western wealth and freedom may be ending’, 2nd August 2016
- ‘A new industrial revolution is coming. Is Theresa May ready for the chaos it could unleash?’, 25th July 2016
- ‘Dear Boris Johnson: here’s my 10-step guide to being Foreign Secretary’, 18th July 2016
- ‘Meticulous, steely, and loyal to her friends: Theresa May is the perfect person to lead us out of the EU’, 11th July 2016
- ‘We Conservatives are all Leavers now. We must unite to build a new and better Britain’, 4th July 2016
- ‘The four questions every wannabe prime minister must answer’, 27th June 2016
- ‘In David Cameron, Britain has lost a truly great prime minister’, 24th June 2016
- ‘Britain’s opponents would love to cause mischief if we left the European Union’, 20th June 2016
- ‘The Leave campaign can’t keep dodging the biggest question’ 6th June 2016
- ‘How is Britain going to knit itself together again after the EU referendum?‘, 30th May 2016
- ‘Trade deals are the world’s best hope of avoiding the new recession’, 24th May 2016
- ‘The Leave Campaign is really the Donald Trump campaign with better hair’, 16th May 2016
- ‘Leaving the EU would be disastrous for the Falklands, Gibraltar and Ulster’, 9th May 2016
- ‘We can’t now turn our backs on the chaos in the Middle East’, 26th April 2016
- ‘Barack Obama is entitled to tell us what America thinks about Brexit’, 19th April 2016
- ‘Transparency over tax returns will not guarantee better government’, 12th April 2016
- ‘Every good conservative should feel torn on the EU referendum’, 10th February 2016
- ‘Western voters are very angry – and extremists are one crisis away from power’, 27th January 2016
- ‘There are six rules for a good reshuffle. Jeremy Corbyn broke every one of them’, 13th January 2016
- ‘Why I will be voting to stay in Europe’, 23rd December
- ‘Stop the excuses and build a third runway at Heathrow’, 9th December 2015
- ‘Iraq was a mistake but that shouldn’t stop us intervening in Syria’, 24th November 2015
- ‘The migrant crisis is a mere gust of the hurricane that will soon engulf Europe’, 11th November 2015
- ‘The Lib Dems have profaned their principles by blocking tax credits in the Lords’, 27th October 2015
- ‘Safe havens for beleaguered Syrians would be a dangerous distraction’, 13th October 2015
- ‘Jeremy Corbyn will regret outsourcing his policies to Labour Party members‘, 29th September 2015
- ‘There are countless sworn assassins waiting to knife Jeremy Corbyn in the back’, 15th September 2015
- ‘Corbyn’s rise is a symptom of the Left’s slow drift into irrelevance’, 1st September 2015
- ‘Greece does not mark the end of the euro debacle, merely the beginning’, 6th July 2015
For speaking engagements please contact enquiries@jla.co.uk