Unite the party and shed the 'Hague the Vague' label, he must prove that he is not simply a caretaker leader. The task in front of him is regarded as a formidable one, not least by his fellow Conservatives. Colleagues speak highly of Mr Hague's term as Welsh Secretary, arguing that he brought jobs and investment to Wales.Īddressing a gathering at Conservative Central Office after his victory, Mr Hague declared: 'You have put your faith in me and I thank you for that and I want you to know that I'm not going to let you down.' Spells as a Junior Social Security Minister and then as Minister of State in the same department followed. Within a year, he had become Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Chancellor, Norman Lamont.

In 1989, at the age of 27, he won the seat of Richmond in North Yorkshire for the Tories - a victory which remains as the Tories last by-election success.

But politics remained at the centre of life. Like his subject, he is still famously young: the teenage star of a Tory party conference, he became the youngest cabinet. He also served as President of the Oxford Union.Ĭelebrating his entrance to parliament at the age of 27Īfter graduating, he attended a business school in Paris, going on to work for management consultants McKinsey. William Hague addresses Pitt's life with some formidable advantages. He told the conference that young people like himself wanted to see taxes cut, union power curbed and the frontiers of the state rolled back - all principles which were to mark Mrs Thatcher's years in government.Įducated at a comprehensive school in his native South Yorkshire, he went on to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he took a First in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. His speech won him national attention and the admiration of Margaret Thatcher. In 1977, at the dawning of an era of punk music and spiky hair, the 16-year old Mr Hague, neatly dressed in jacket and tie, addressed the Conservative Party conference. At 36, he has become the youngest leader of the Conservative Party since Pitt the Younger more than two centuries ago. William Hague has enjoyed a remarkable career. William Hague - A Pitt the Younger for the 1990s? Robert Godber, Hague's politics teacher, on his pupil's enthusiasm for the subject 'Most of all they want to be free': Hague addresses the 1977 Tory Conference

William hague pitt the younger