During the campaign Jeremy Paxman asked Michael Howard whether he had threatened to overrule the former Director General of HM Prison Service Derek Lewis when he was Home Secretary.

He was regarded as a serious contender but had been damaged by the criticisms of Ann Widdecombe (who had served under him at the Home Office) that he had "something of the night about him"[5] and by the decision of William Hague, who had originally agreed to support Howard and become Deputy Leader, to stand in his own right.

Heseltine, who had had a stent fitted after an attack of angina the day after the General Election, was tempted by the offer, but declined on medical advice.

Under William Hague's leadership, the party would fail to make any significant advance at the 2001 general election, netting only a single seat, and he was succeeded by Iain Duncan Smith.

In 1998, the system of leadership elections was altered to one where MPs vote in rounds to select a shortlist of two candidates, who are then presented to the mass membership to choose.