Early political career Hague contested
Wentworth unsuccessfully in
1987, before being elected to Parliament at a
by-election in 1989 as Member for the safe Conservative seat of
Richmond, North Yorkshire, where he succeeded former
Home Secretary Leon Brittan. Following his election he became the then-youngest Conservative MP and despite having only recently become an MP, Hague was invited to join the Government in 1990, serving as
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Norman Lamont. After Lamont was sacked in 1993, Hague moved to the
Department of Social Security (DSS) where he was
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. The following year he was promoted as
Minister of State in the DSS with responsibility for Social Security and Disabled People. Hague was appointed a Cabinet Minister in 1995 as
Secretary of State for Wales; He continued serving in Cabinet until the Conservatives were defeated after 18 years in government, by
Labour at the
1997 general election.
Leadership of the Conservative Party Following the
1997 general election defeat, Hague was
elected Leader of the Conservative Party in succession to John Major, defeating more experienced figures such as
Kenneth Clarke and
Michael Howard. At the age of 36, Hague was tasked with rebuilding the Conservative Party (fresh from their worst general election result of the 20th century) by attempting to build a more modern image. £250,000 was spent on the "Listening to Britain" campaign to try to put the Conservatives back in touch with the public after losing power; he welcomed ideas about "
compassionate conservatism" including from the then-
Governor of Texas, later President
George W. Bush. Hague led the Conservatives to a successful result at the
European parliamentary elections in June 1999, where the Conservatives gained 18
MEPs compared to
Labour's loss of 33 MEPs. Hague's authority was challenged by the appointment of
Michael Portillo as
Shadow Chancellor in 2000. Portillo had been widely tipped to be the next Conservative Party Leader before
dramatically losing his seat at the
1997 general election; he was elected as MP for Kensington and Chelsea at a
by-election two years later. Soon after Portillo's return to Parliament, Conservative policy on two of Labour's flagship policies was reversed: the
minimum wage and independence of the
Bank of England. From then and until the
2001 general election Hague's supporters waged an increasingly bitter battle with Portillo's faction; such internecine infighting significantly contributed to the Conservatives' two subsequent election defeats. Hague was widely ridiculed for claiming he used to drink "14 pints of beer a day" as a teenager. His reputation suffered further damage when a 2001 poll for
The Daily Telegraph found that 66% of voters considered him to be "a bit of a
wally", and 70% of voters believed he would "say almost anything to win votes".
"Foreign Land" speech At a
Party Conference speech in March 2001, Hague said: Former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister
Michael Heseltine, a prominent
One-nation Conservative, was critical of Hague's
Eurosceptic view that Britain was becoming a "foreign land", betraying in newspaper interviews that he was uncertain as to whether he could support a Hague-led Conservative Party.
Skill in debate Hague's critics assiduously monitored his performance at
Prime Minister's Questions each Wednesday in Parliament, having difficulty to find fault. During one particular exchange, while responding to the
Queen's Speech of 2000, Hague attacked
Prime Minister Tony Blair's record: Blair responded by criticising what he saw as Hague's "
bandwagon politics":
Resignation On the morning of Labour's second consecutive landslide victory at the
2001 general election, Hague stated: "we have not been able to persuade a majority, or anything approaching a majority, that we are yet the alternative government that they need." At that election the Conservative Party gained just one parliamentary seat more than at the 1997 general election; following this defeat, Hague resigned as party leader. Hague thus became the second twentieth century Conservative party leader not to become Prime Minister (after
Austen Chamberlain) and the first ever to spend his entire tenure in Opposition.
Backbenches On the
backbenches he occasionally spoke in the
House of Commons on issues of the day. Between 1997 and 2002, he was the Chairman of the
International Democrat Union. Hague's profile and personal popularity rose thereafter among both Conservative Party members and the wider public following his spell as Party Leader. He has written a biography of 18th-century Prime Minister
Pitt the Younger (published in 2004), taught himself how to play the piano, and hosted the 25th anniversary programme for
Radio 4 on the political television satire
Yes Minister in 2005. In June 2007 he published his second book, a biography of the anti-slave trade campaigner
William Wilberforce, shortlisted for the 2008
Orwell Prize for political writing. Hague's annual income was the highest in Parliament, with earnings of about £400,000 a year from directorships, consultancy, speeches and his parliamentary salary. His income was previously estimated at £1 million annually, but he dropped several commitments and in effect took a salary cut of some £600,000 on becoming
Shadow Foreign Secretary in 2005. Together with former Prime Minister
John Major, former Chancellor
Kenneth Clarke, and Hague's successor
Iain Duncan Smith, Hague served for a time on the Conservative Leadership Council, which was set up by
Michael Howard upon his
election unopposed as Leader of the Conservative Party in 2003. At the
2005 Conservative leadership election he supported the eventual winner
David Cameron. He is a member of
Conservative Friends of Israel, a group which he joined when he was 15.
Return to the Shadow Cabinet Following the
2005 general election, the Conservative Party Leader
Michael Howard apparently offered Hague the post of
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, which he turned down citing that his business commitments would make it difficult for him to take on such a high-profile job. On 6 December 2005,
David Cameron was elected Leader of the Conservative Party. Hague was offered and accepted the role of
Shadow Foreign Secretary and Senior Member of the
Shadow cabinet, effectively serving as Cameron's deputy (though not formally, unlike previous Deputy Conservative Leaders
William Whitelaw,
Peter Lilley and
Michael Ancram). He had been widely tipped to return to the
frontbench under either Cameron or leadership contest runner-up
David Davis. On 30 January 2006, by Cameron's instructions, Hague travelled to
Brussels for talks to pull Conservative Party
MEPs out of the
European People's Party–European Democrats Group (EPP-ED) in the
European Parliament. (
The Daily Telegraph, 30 January 2006). Further, on 15 February 2006, Hague deputed, during David Cameron's
paternity leave, at
Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs). This appearance gave rise to jokes at the expense of Blair, that all three parties that day were being led by 'stand-ins', with the Liberal Democrats represented by Acting Leader Sir
Menzies Campbell, the Labour Party by the departing Blair, and the Conservatives by Hague. Hague again deputised for Cameron for several
sessions in 2006.
Foreign secretary Hillary Clinton following his appointment as Foreign Secretary. organisation:
Martti Ahtisaari, former
President of Finland and
Nobel Peace Laureate, and
Mary Robinson, former
President of Ireland and former
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in London, 2010. , in 2013. Prime Minister Cameron's first appointment was Hague as
foreign secretary. He was also accorded the
honorary title of
First Secretary of State. In his first overseas visit as British Foreign Secretary, Hague met US Secretary of State,
Hillary Clinton, at
Washington. In August 2010, Hague set out a values-based
foreign policy, stating that: "We cannot have a foreign policy without a conscience. Foreign policy is domestic policy written large. The values we live by at home do not stop at our shores. Human rights are not the only issue that informs the making of foreign policy, but they are indivisible from it, not least because the consequences of foreign policy failure are human". Hague further said that: "There will be no downgrading of human rights under this Government and no resiling from our commitments to aid and development". He continued by saying: "Indeed I intend to improve and strengthen our human rights work. It is not in our character as a nation to have a foreign policy without a conscience, and neither is it in our interests". However, in March 2011, Hague was criticised by
Cardinal Keith O'Brien for increasing financial aid to
Pakistan despite persecution of its
Christian minority: "To increase aid to the Pakistan Government when religious freedom is not upheld and those who speak up for religious freedom are gunned down is tantamount to an anti-Christian foreign policy". In September 2011, Hague told
BBC Radio 4's
File on 4 investigation
Cyber Spies into the legality of domestic cyber surveillance and the export of this technology from the UK to countries with questionable human rights records that the UK had a strong export licence system. The programme also obtained confirmation from the UK's
Department for Business Innovation and Skills that cyber surveillance products that break, as opposed to create, encryption do not require export licences. In June 2012, he continued to stand in for
David Cameron at PMQs when both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
Nick Clegg were out of the country. In January 2013, Hague visited
New Zealand in his capacity as Foreign Secretary, holding talks with
New Zealand government ministers,
Murray McCully and
David Shearer. In March 2013, Hague established the
International Leaders Programme, designed to identify and develop partnerships among future global leaders.
Media reaction to FCO appointment In early September 2010, newspapers including
The Daily Telegraph,
The Independent and the
Daily Mail released stories about allegations surrounding Hague's friendship with 25-year-old Christopher Myers, a history graduate from
Durham University, whom he employed as a parliamentary
special adviser. A spokesperson stated that "Any suggestion that the Foreign Secretary's relationship with Chris Myers is anything other than a purely professional one is wholly inaccurate and unfounded." in 2010 On 1 September 2010, Myers resigned from his appointment in light of that press speculation, which prompted Hague to issue a public statement, wherein he confirmed that he had "occasionally" shared a hotel room with Myers [for reasons of frugality by upbringing], but refuting the "utterly false" suggestions that he had ever been involved in a relationship with man. A spokesperson for Prime Minister David Cameron reported that he gave his "full support" over the media rumours. Figures from both within and without the Conservative Party criticised Hague for his personal response to the stories, with former
Conservative leadership candidate,
John Redwood, commenting that Hague had shown "poor judgement", and
the Speaker's wife, Labour-supporting
Sally Bercow, speculating that Hague had been given "duff PR advice", whilst a parliamentary and ministerial colleague, the Conservative MP,
Alan Duncan, described the media coverage as "contemptible".
Israel–Palestinian conflict Hague was criticised by Israeli leaders after meeting with
Palestinians who demonstrated against
Israel's barrier in the West Bank. He expressed solidarity with the idea of non-violence and listened to the accounts of left-wing and Palestinian activists.
Israeli Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni condemned the statements and said: The security barrier has saved lives, and its construction was necessary. The barrier has separated Israel from Palestinian cities and completely changed the reality in Israel, where citizens were exposed to terror every day.
2011 Middle East protests in London, 4 April 2012 In February 2011 security forces in the
Bahrain dispersed thousands of anti-government
protesters at
Pearl Square in the centre of the capital,
Manama. Hague informed the
House of Commons that he had stressed the need for peaceful action in dealing with the protesters: "At least three people died in the operation, with hundreds more injured. We are greatly concerned about the deaths that have occurred. I have this morning spoken to the
Foreign Minister of Bahrain and
HM Ambassador spoke last night to the Bahraini Minister of the Interior. In both cases we stressed the need for peaceful action to address the concerns of protesters, the importance of respect for the right to peaceful protest and for freedom of expression". Hague told
Sky News that the use of force by the Libyan authorities during the
2011 Libyan Civil War was "dreadful and horrifying" and called on the leader to respect people's human rights. A vicious crackdown led by special forces, foreign mercenaries and
Muammar Gaddafi loyalists was launched in the country's second city
Benghazi, which has been the focus of anti-regime protests. Hague stated to
Dermot Murnaghan on
Sky: "I think we have to increase the international pressure and condemnation. The United Kingdom condemns what the Libyan Government has been doing and how they have responded to these protests, and we look to other countries to do the same". n
Foreign Affairs Minister Rafik Abdessalem, 2012 Following delays in extracting British citizens from Libya, a disastrous helicopter attempt to contact the protesters ending with eight
British diplomats/
SAS arrested and no
aircraft carriers or
Harriers to enforce a
no-fly zone he was accused, by the Labour Opposition, of "losing his
mojo" in March 2011. In March 2011, Hague said in a speech to business leaders that the examples being set in North Africa and the Middle East will ultimately transform the relationship between governments and their populations in the region. However following the row over whether Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was being targeted by coalition forces, the Foreign Secretary stated that the Libyan people must be free to determine their own future. Hague said: "It is not for us to choose the government of Libya—that is for the Libyan people themselves. But they have a far greater chance of making that choice now than they did on Saturday, when the opposition forces were on the verge of defeat." Hague has warned that autocratic leaders including
Robert Mugabe,
President of Zimbabwe, could be shaken and even toppled by a wave of popular uprisings rippling out from North Africa. He said that recent revolts against authoritarian leaders in countries including Libya and Egypt will have a greater historic significance than the
9/11 attacks on the US or the recent financial crisis. He stopped short of threatening military intervention against other dictators, but warned that they will inevitably face "judgement" for oppressing their people and suppressing democracy. Repressive African regimes will also face challenges from their populations and from the international community, Hague said: "Demands for freedom will spread, and that undemocratic governments elsewhere should take heed." He added: "Governments that use violence to stop democratic development will not earn themselves respite forever. They will pay an increasingly high price for actions which they can no longer hide from the world with ease, and will find themselves on the wrong side of history." speaking to
NATO Secretary General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the
London Conference on Libya, 29 March 2011 Hague, on his way to Qatar Summit in April 2011, called for intensified sanctions on the Libyan regime and for a clear statement that Gaddafi must go: "we have sent more ground strike aircraft in order to protect civilians. We do look to other countries to do the same, if necessary, over time". "We would like a continued increase in our (NATO's) capability to protect civilians in Libya", he added. Whether
NATO ratcheted up operations depended on what happened on the ground, Hague said. "These air strikes are a response to movements of, or attacks from, regime forces so what happens will be dependent on that", he said. Whether the Americans could again be asked to step up their role would also "depend on the circumstances", he added. Hague, speaking on the
protests in Syria, said: "Political reforms should be brought forward and implemented without delay." It is thought as many as 60 people were killed by security forces in the country on 22 April 2011, making it the worst day for deaths since protests against President
Bashar al-Assad began over a month prior, reported BBC News.
Syria Speaking on the
Syrian civil war, in August 2011, Hague said of military intervention: "It's not a remote possibility. Even if we were in favour [of UN-backed military action], which we are not because there's no call from the Arab League for intervention as in the case of Libya, there is no prospect of a legal, morally sanctioned military intervention. Hague added that it was a "frustrating situation" and that the "levers" at the international community's disposal were severely limited but said countries had to concentrate on other ways of influencing the Assad government. "We want to see stronger international pressure all round. Of course, to be effective that just can't be pressure from Western nations, that includes from Arab nations... and it includes from Turkey who has been very active in trying to persuade President Assad to reform instead of embarking on these appalling actions", he said. "I would also like to see a
United Nations Security Council resolution to condemn this violence, to call for the release of political prisoners, to call for legitimate grievances to be responded to", he added. During 2012, the UK started training Syrian opposition activists in
Istanbul on media, civil society and local government matters, and supplying non-lethal equipment such as satellite communications and computers. On 24 February 2012, Hague recognised the
Syrian National Council as a "legitimate representative" of the country. Hague also said
Bashar al-Assad's government had "forfeited the right to lead" by "miring itself in the blood of innocent people". Hague said: "Today we must show that we will not abandon the Syrian people in their darkest hour". He added that "Those responsible for the murder of entire families, the shelling of homes, the execution of detainees, the cleansing of political opponents and the torture and rape of women and children must be held to account", he said. In March 2012, Hague ordered the evacuation of all British diplomats from
Syria and closed the UK embassy in Damascus because of mounting security threats. Hague told Parliament: "We have maintained an embassy in
Damascus despite the violence to help us communicate with all parties in Syria and to provide insight into the situation on the ground". He added: "We now judge that the deterioration of the security situation in Damascus puts our embassy staff and premises at risk." Hague said that his decision "in no way reduces the UK's commitment to active diplomacy to maintain pressure on the Assad regime to end the violence". He went on to say that: "We will continue to work closely with other nations to co-ordinate diplomatic and economic pressure on the Syrian regime." , President of the
National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, on 5 September 2013 On 1 April 2012, Hague met 74 other nations at a
Friends of Syria Group conference in Istanbul, Turkey. Hague said the issue could return to the United Nations Security Council if current efforts to resolve the crisis fail. The government of President Assad has said it accepts a peace plan by the UN-Arab League envoy
Kofi Annan, but there has been little evidence that it is prepared to end its crackdown on the opposition. Hague accused Assad of "stalling for time" and warned that if the issue does return to the Security Council, he may no longer be able to rely on the backing of Russia and China, who blocked a previous resolution calling for him to stand down. "There isn't an unlimited period of time for this, for the Kofi Annan process to work before many of the nations here want us to go back to the UN Security Council—some of them will call for arming the opposition if there isn't progress made," Hague told the BBC. He added that "What is now being put to them is a plan from Kofi Annan supported by the whole United Nations Security Council, and this is an important point, it's supported by Russia and by China as well as by the more obvious countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Arab League and so on". On 20 November 2012, Hague recognised the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the "sole legitimate representative" of the Syrian people, and a credible alternative to the current Syrian Government. On 29 August 2013, the
British Parliament refused to ratify the
British Government's plan to participate in military strikes against the Syrian Government in the wake of a
chemical-weapons attack at Ghouta. Hague denied suggestions that he had threatened to resign over Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to go straight to a parliamentary vote. After the vote, Hague continued to urge other governments to take action against the Syrian Government, saying "If it is decided in the various parliaments of the world that no-one will stand up to the use of chemical weapons and take any action about that, that would be a very alarming moment in the affairs of the world". Ultimately a negotiated agreement was reached to
eliminate Syria's chemical weapons.
Proposal of elected EU presidency and
Radosław Sikorski meeting
Vlad Filat,
Prime Minister of Moldova, February 2013 In June 2011, Hague dismissed
Tony Blair's vision for an elected-head of the
European Union by insisting that member states have more pressing priorities than further "constitutional tinkering". Hague made clear his view after Blair argued that a directly elected President of Europe, representing almost 400m people from 27 countries, would give the EU clear leadership and enormous authority. In an interview with
The Times, Blair set out the agenda that he thought a directly elected
EU President should pursue, although he conceded, there was "no chance" of such a post being created "at the present time". Asked about the former Prime Minister's call for further European integration and the creation of an elected-President, Hague suggested that Blair may have been thinking of the role for himself. "I can't think who he had in mind", Hague joked, further adding on a serious note: "Elected presidents are for countries. The EU is not a country and it's not going to become a country, in my view, now or ever in the future. It is a group of countries working together".
Taliban talks In June 2011, Hague said that Britain helped initiate "distasteful" peace talks with the
Taliban in Afghanistan. Hague made the comments while on a three-day tour of the country to meet President
Hamid Karzai and visited
British troops. He told
The Sun newspaper that Britain had led the way in persuading US
President Barack Obama's administration that negotiation was the best potential solution to the conflict. Hague admitted that any deal might mean accepting "distasteful things" and could anger military veterans and relatives of the 374 British troops killed in Afghanistan. However, he said he believed that Britain as a whole was "realistic and practical" enough to accept that ending fighting and starting talks was the best way to safeguard national security. He told the newspaper: "An eventual settlement of these issues is the ultimate and most desirable way of safeguarding that national security." He added, "but reconciliation with people who have been in a military conflict can be very distasteful. In all these types of situations, you do have to face up to some distasteful things." The previous night US President
Barack Obama told Americans that "the tide of war is receding" as he announced plans to withdraw 33,000 US troops from Afghanistan by September 2012.
Comments on the Euro In September 2011, Hague said that the
Euro is "a burning building with no exits" for some of the countries which adopted the currency. Hague first used the expression when he was Conservative Leader in 1998—and said in an interview with
The Spectator he had been proved right: "It was folly to create this system. It will be written about for centuries as a kind of historical monument to collective folly. But it's there and we have to deal with it," he said. "I described the Euro as a burning building with no exits and so it has proved for some of the countries in it," he further said, adding "I might take the analogy too far but the Euro wasn't built with exits so it is very difficult to leave it".
Iran In February 2012, Hague warned in a BBC interview about
Iran's "increasing willingness to contemplate" terrorism around the world. He cited the
2011 Iran assassination plot, an attempt to assassinate
Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, as well as alleged involvement in recent attacks in New Delhi, Georgia, and
Bangkok. He said it showed "the danger Iran is currently presenting to the peace of the world". Hague spoke the Commons on 20 February about the
nuclear program of Iran and said that if the Tehran regime managed to construct a viable weapon, its neighbours would be forced to build their own nuclear warheads too. He accused Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of pursuing "confrontational policies" and described the country's enrichment of uranium in defiance of
United Nations Security Council resolutions as "a crisis coming steadily down the track". "Our policy is that whilst we remain unswervingly committed to diplomacy, it is important to emphasise to Iran that all options are on the table," Hague told MPs. In March he condemned the way
parliamentary elections were staged, claiming they were not "free and fair". He said the poll had been held against a backdrop of fear that meant the result would not reflect the will of the people. Hague said: "It has been clear for some time that these elections would not be free and fair. "The regime has presented the vote as a test of loyalty, rather than an opportunity for people freely to choose their own representatives. The climate of fear, created by the regime's crushing of opposition voices since 2009, persists."
Falkland Islands The 30th anniversary of the beginning of the
1982 Falklands War was on 2 April 2012. On 29 March, before the
Lord Mayor of London's banquet guests, namely the entire foreign diplomatic corps of more than 100 ambassadors, including
Alicia Castro (
Argentinian Ambassador), Hague said the UK was keen to deepen its relationship with Latin America—and reiterated Britain's commitment to the Falklands. He said: "We are reversing Britain's decline in Latin America, where we are opening a new Embassy in
El Salvador. This determination to deepen our relations with Latin America is coupled with our steadfast commitment to the right of self-determination of the people of the
Falkland Islands". Tensions over the Falklands had risen in the weeks prior to the anniversary. In February, Hague said deployments of a British warship,
HMS Dauntless and the
Duke of Cambridge to the Falklands were "entirely routine". Hague said that Britain affirmed the Falklanders'
self-determination and would seek to prevent
Argentina from "raising the diplomatic temperature" over the issue. He further said: "(the events) are not so much celebrations as commemorations. I think Argentina will also be holding commemorations of those who died in the conflict. Since both countries will be doing that I don't think there is anything provocative about that."
Turks and Caicos Islands Hague set out
Her Majesty's Government's plans, on 12 June 2012, for the
reintroduction of self-government in the
Turks and Caicos Islands, where direct rule of the
Governor had been in place since the islands had been subject to corruption and maladministration under the previous autonomous administration.
Julian Assange and right of asylum In August 2012, Hague declared that
Julian Assange, the
WikiLeaks organisation founder, would not be granted
political asylum by the United Kingdom. Hague declared the UK's willingness to extradite Assange to the Swedish authorities who had requested his extradition; thus
Swedish prosecutors, unwilling to break
diplomatic protocol, have deferred from interrogating Assange at the
Embassy of Ecuador, London. Hague confirmed the
British Government's position – that it is lawfully obliged to extradite Julian Assange. "We're disappointed by the statement by
Ecuador's Foreign Minister today that
Ecuador has offered political asylum to
Julian Assange. Under our
Laws, with Mr. Assange having exhausted all options of appeal, the British authorities are under a binding obligation to extradite him to
Sweden. We must carry out that obligation and of course we fully intend to do so," Hague confirmed. Following
The Guardian newspaper outcry over a
Foreign Office note sanctioned by Hague sent to the
Ecuadorian Embassy—in which it raised the possibility of the revocation of their diplomatic status under the
Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987—the Foreign Secretary reaffirmed the UK remained "committed to a diplomatic solution" and played down any suggestion of a police raid of the Ecuadorian Embassy, stating "there is no threat here to storm an embassy". The former ambassador to Uzbekistan,
Craig Murray, warned that using the 1987 Act to raid the Ecuadorian Embassy would be in "breach of the Vienna Convention of 1961".
Russia warned Britain against violating fundamental diplomatic principles (
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and in particular the
Article 22 spelling out the inviolability of diplomatic premises), which the
Government of Ecuador invoked. Hague is the subject of a portrait in
oil commissioned by
Parliament.
Leader of the House of Commons and retirement Once Hague had formally declared his intention not to seek re-election as MP for Richmond at the forthcoming
2015 general election, he told
David Cameron he would be standing down as Foreign Secretary. Cameron instigated a
Cabinet reshuffle whereby Hague became
Leader of the House of Commons. Hague remained as Cameron's "
de facto political deputy", retained his membership of the
National Security Council and played a lead role in reaching out to voters in the
North of England in the run up to the general election. In a surprise motion on his last day in the House of Commons, Hague moved to make the election for
Speaker in the next parliament a secret ballot, in what was seen as an effort to oust the incumbent
John Bercow for lacking the neutrality expected of a Speaker of the House.
Charles Walker,
Conservative MP for Broxbourne, Chairman of the
Procedure Committee and responsible for
Speaker elections, stated that he had written a report about such an idea "years ago" and despite speaking with Hague and
Michael Gove earlier that week, neither had told him of any such move. A visibly emotional Walker told the House, "I have been played as a fool. When I go home tonight, I will look in the mirror and see an honourable fool looking back at me. I would much rather be an honourable fool, in this and any other matter, than a clever man." Walker received a standing ovation, mainly from the Labour benches, while the Government lost its parliamentary motion by 228 to 202 votes. During the debate, Labour MP
Gerald Kaufman denounced Hague, saying: "Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this grubby decision is what he personally will be remembered for? After a distinguished career in the House of Commons, both as a leader of a party and as a senior Cabinet Minister, he has now descended to squalor in the final days of the Parliament." He was succeeded as MP for Richmond (Yorks) by future Chancellor of the Exchequer, future Prime Minister, and future Leader of the Opposition
Rishi Sunak. ==In retirement==