In his speech he told the delegates: "half of you won't be here in 30 or 40 years' time..., but that others would have to live with consequences of a Labour Government if it stayed in power".

[4] Writing in his diary at the time Kenneth Rose noted that Peter Carrington told him that "he and several other frontbench Tories were nauseated by the much-heralded speech of a sixteen-year-old schoolboy called William Hague.

[11] Hague contested Wentworth unsuccessfully in 1987, before being elected to Parliament at a by-election in 1989 as Member for the safe Conservative seat[12][13] of Richmond, North Yorkshire, where he succeeded former Home Secretary Leon Brittan.

At the age of 36, Hague was tasked with rebuilding the Conservative Party (fresh from their worst general election result of the 20th century)[17] 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.

[26][27] During one particular exchange, while responding to the Queen's Speech of 2000, Hague attacked Prime Minister Tony Blair's record: In more than 20 years in politics, he has betrayed every cause he believed in, contradicted every statement he has made, broken every promise he has given and breached every agreement that he has entered into....

[35] 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.

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.

[44] 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,[45] a history graduate from Durham University, whom he employed as a parliamentary special adviser.

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.

[56] 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.

"[57] 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.

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."

"[58] 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.

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.

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.

[61] 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.

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.

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".

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.

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".

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.

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.

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".

[86] 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.

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.

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.

[94] Hague and the then Duke of Cambridge identified, while the former was in post as Foreign Secretary, that the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) was among the most profitable criminal enterprises in the world, and in order to combat it formed in 2014 the Transport Task Force (TTF).

[95] In September 2020, Hague was appointed as chairman of the Royal Foundation, a charitable organisation operating under the auspices of the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in succession to Sir Keith Mills who retired.