"party’s Scottish executive. 1998 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election The 1998 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was an internal party election to elect a new leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. The previous year the party had lost all of its MP's in the 1997 general election. Two individuals put themselves forward; Former Scottish Conservative President David McLetchie, and former Ayr MP Phil Gallie. McLetchie won the election with 52.3% of votes cast. The Leader was elected via a secret ballot at a meeting of senior party officials, including Conservative candidates for the Scottish parliament, constituency chairs, area"
"founder member of the European Young Conservatives. Conservative Future founder and former Leader of the House of Commons, William Hague was announced as the Honorary President at the 2012 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. It also sent delegates to the National Conservative Convention, the parliament of the party's voluntary wing (Voluntary Party). 2015 was the last year CF sent delegates to the NCC. Conservative Future was formed on 7 October 1998 as part of a major series of cross-party reforms introduced by then party leader William Hague. Part of the reforms including the merging of the three movements that specifically"
"ideas about ""compassionate conservatism"" including from the then-Governor of Texas, later President George W. Bush. When he visited a theme park with his Chief of Staff and former local MP, Sebastian (now Lord) Coe, Hague took a ride on a log flume wearing a baseball cap emblazoned 'HAGUE'; Cecil Parkinson described the exercise as ""juvenile"". Hague steered the Conservatives to a successful result at the European parliamentary elections in June 1999, where the Conservatives gained 36 MEPs ahead of Labour's 29; his opposition to the single European currency (the Euro) was later vindicated by Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown's adoption"
"all Conservative members. The system was first used by the Conservatives in the 2001 leadership election to replace William Hague. A run off by various candidates led to Iain Duncan Smith and Kenneth Clarke being put forward to a vote of all Conservative members, with the final result announced on September 12, 2001. The eligible voters were 328,000 members of the Conservative Party of which 79% of the voters exercised their rights on said date. Duncan Smith became the new Leader of the Conservative Party with 61% of the votes (155,933 votes). Kenneth Clarke obtained 39% of the votes (100,544"
"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 Willie Whitelaw, Peter Lilley and Michael Ancram). He had been widely tipped to return to the frontbench under either Cameron or leadership contest"
"national news at the age of 16 by addressing the Conservatives at their 1977 Annual National Conference. 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"". Hague read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with first-class honours. He was President of the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA), but was ""convicted of electoral malpractice"" in the election process. OUCA's official historian, David Blair, notes that Hague was actually elected on"
"returned the party to government at the 2010 general election as the head of a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition and went on to win a majority five years later at the 2015 general election. 2001 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The 2001 Conservative Party leadership election was held after the British Conservative Party failed to make inroads into the Labour government's lead in the 2001 general election. Party leader William Hague resigned, and a leadership contest was called under new rules Hague had introduced. Five candidates stepped forward: Michael Ancram, David Davis, Kenneth Clarke, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael"
"first Conservative candidate to win a parliamentary by-election since William Hague's victory in Richmond in 1989. During his political career he has sat on the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee and its Environment Sub-Committee. He is strongly against the expansion of Heathrow Airport. In 1999 he was appointed as an Opposition Whip, but, due to his opposition to Britain's involvement in the Iraq War, he resigned as a matter of conscience in March 2003. He was later reappointed as a Whip in 2003. At the end of 2005 he was promoted to Conservative Assistant Chief Whip. In 2010"
"the event, most of Redwood's supporters switched to Hague rather than to Clarke. Julian Lewis announced that he was the only MP who did not vote. Under William Hague's leadership, the party would fail to make any significant advance at the 2001 general election, and he was succeeded by Iain Duncan Smith. In 1998, the system of leadership elections was altered to the present form, where MPs choose a shortlist of two candidates, who are then presented to the mass membership to choose. An incumbent leader can still be ousted by a no confidence vote of Conservative MPs, as was"
"held several directorships, and worked as a consultant and public speaker. After David Cameron was elected Leader of the Conservative Party in 2005, Hague was reappointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Foreign Secretary. He also assumed the role of ""Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet"", effectively serving as Cameron's deputy. After the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010, Hague was appointed First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary. Cameron described him as his """"de facto"" political deputy"". On 14 July 2014, Hague stood down as Foreign Secretary and became Leader of the House of Commons. He did not"
"1997. He immediately joined the House of Commons health select committee. At the 2001 election he again took on a strategy role as a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party. As part of his duties Shadow Ministers had to clear the timing of their announcements with Lansley. He fitted them into a timetable known as the 'Stalingrid'. The 2001 election was not a success for the Conservative Party and party leader, William Hague, resigned in its wake. Iain Duncan Smith, the new leader, offered Lansley a position after the election but he turned this down and, until Michael Howard became Leader,"
"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. After the 2005 general election, the Conservative Party Leader Michael Howard"
"held the seat since 1987. In 1995 he was appointed Minister for Education, Housing, Fisheries and Sport at the Scottish Office, a post he held until the United Kingdom general election, 1997. After losing the Aberdeen South seat to Labour's Anne Begg at the 1997 general election, he became Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Chairman. In 2001, he resigned after unsuccessfully contesting the Eastwood constituency at the 2001 general election and the subsequent resignation of William Hague, the then Conservative Party leader. After politics he became a founding director of Halogen Communications Ltd, a public affairs and public relations consultancy"
"seat for the Conservative Party. From 1983, the seat was represented by the cabinet minister Leon Brittan, after boundary changes saw his Cleveland and Whitby seat abolished; however he resigned from the Commons in December 1988 in order to take up the position of Vice-President of the European Commission. The ensuing by-election, held in February 1989, was won by William Hague: this was the last by-election won by a Conservative candidate during the Conservative Government of 1979-1997. Hague's win has been attributed in part to the decision by the remnants of the Social Democratic Party (those members that objected to"
"However, by the time the 2001 general election came he concentrated on Europe, asylum seekers and tax cuts whilst declaring that only the Conservative Party could ""Save the Pound"". Though a master debater who would regularly trounce Tony Blair in the Commons, his leadership tenure was beset by poor publicity and stumbles. Despite a low turnout, the election resulted in a net gain of a single seat for the Conservative Party and William Hague's resignation as party leader. The 2001 leadership election was conducted under a new leadership electoral system designed by Hague. This resulted in five candidates competing for"
"Andrew Mitchell said: ""William Hague made a great speech which many people will judge to be better than all the other leadership candidates put together. What that tells you is that being absolutely brilliant at being able to make a speech at conference is not the be-all-and-end-all of leadership. There are other things as well."" In the first ballot of Conservative MPs on 18 October 2005, Davis came top with 62 votes. As this was less than the number of his declared supporters, it became clear that the Davis bid was losing momentum. The elimination of former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke"
"the Conservative Party argued for more equal sized constituencies. The 2010 General Election held on 6 May resulted in a hung parliament, the first since 1974, leading to a period of negotiations. Honouring a pre-election pledge, the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg entered into negotiations with the Conservatives as the party who had won most votes and most seats. William Hague offered the Liberal Democrats a referendum on the Alternative Vote as part of a ""final offer"" in the Conservatives' negotiations for a proposed ""full and proper"" coalition between the two parties. Hague and Conservative leader David Cameron said that"
"the merger with the Liberal Party the previous year) to contest the election as well as the newly merged Social and Liberal Democrats (who subsequently renamed themselves the Liberal Democrats). The SDP candidate, local farmer Mike Potter, came second, and Hague's majority of 2,634 was considerably smaller than the number of votes (11,589) for the SLD candidate Barbara Pearce. Hague retained the seat at every general election from then on, building the Conservative majority to 23,336, until his decision to step down at the 2015 election. In 1992 the Labour candidate until a few weeks before the election, David Abrahams"
"that Platell moved into politics to become the Conservative Party's head of media, during which she supported William Hague, advising him to just ""be yourself"" as it was at these times he was his strongest. In her role, Platell made an important contribution to Hague's reversion from a modernising agenda to a 'core vote' strategy pursued during the 1999 European Elections, which the Conservatives won, and the 2001 General Election campaign. Hague, however, only managed to make a net gain of 1 seat in 2001, forcing his resignation shortly after the General Election. Since 2002, Platell has contributed as a"
"consultant at McKinsey & Company, where Archie Norman was his mentor. 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 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"
"general membership in Britain. Then-leader of the British Conservative Party William Hague hoped to put the issue to rest by negotiating a new arrangement in 1999 by which the EPP's parliamentary group would rebrand itself as the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED), with the ""European Democrat"" nomenclature returning after a seven-year hiatus. This was intended to nominally underscore the Conservatives' status apart from the rest of EPP, and it was hoped that with the coming enlargement of the European Union numerous newly involved right-wing parties, averse to the EPP proper for its perceived European federalism, would be willing to instead"
"majority among MPs, which many believe hampered the inexperienced leader and led to the events which saw Michael Howard replace him in 2003. In hindsight, Iain Duncan Smith's leadership was widely regarded as a disaster for the Conservatives, with the party's poll ratings declining to under 30% at times. After just two years as leader of the Conservative Party, Smith lost a confidence vote amongst Conservative MPs and was replaced as leader by Michael Howard. Howard went on to lose the 2005 General Election, improving on William Hague's performance in 2001 but still falling some way short of the 209"
"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. (""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"
"the Labour Party had abandoned its socialist ideology and moved to the centre under the leadership of Tony Blair and won a large number of by-elections, eventually depriving Major's government of a parliamentary majority in December 1996. Major went on to lose the 1997 general election five months later, in one of the largest electoral defeats since the Great Reform Act of 1832. Major was succeeded by William Hague as Leader of the Conservative Party in June 1997. He went on to retire from active politics, leaving the House of Commons at the 2001 general election. In 1999, a BBC"
"council included two visits by William Hague the Conservative party leader. Pre-election the Liberal Democrats only had control of the council based on the casting vote of the mayor, while the Conservatives needed 5 gains to take control. Conservative leaflets led with the theme of ""Keep the Pound"" but locally they accused the Liberal Democrat administration of incompetence and attacked the 22% Council Tax rise over the previous two years. The Liberal Democrats were also attacked over the council's decision to not put on any floral displays in 1999 to save money, which was seen as being an error for"
"Party Board. The NCC was first established as the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations. Its purpose was to oversee the running of the Party across the country, and plan Party Conferences. These functions remain largely the same today, and every year the President of the NCC continues to officially open the Party Conference. Over time, the NUCUA's membership became more clearly defined, and has broadly been the same since the Party's set of extensive internal reforms following their defeat in the 1945 General Election. In 1998, new Party leader William Hague carried out another extensive reform which led"
"and subsequent approval of the policy. 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 of 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"
"Shadow Cabinet of John Major John Major, Leader of the Conservative Party was Leader of the Opposition from 2 May 1997, following his defeat at the 1997 general election, until 19 June 1997, when William Hague was elected to succeed him. Following the defeat, Major announced his resignation as leader. But, for logistical reasons, a new leader could not be elected for several weeks. In the intervening period, Major appointed an interim Shadow Cabinet. The Shadow Cabinet was based on Major's final Cabinet. However, as seven Cabinet Ministers had lost their seats in the general election and another had not"
"the Conservative Party. In March 1999, George Osborne was selected by the Tatton Conservative Association to be their candidate for the following general election. In September 2011, Hamilton attended the annual conference of the UK Independence Party. The party's leader Nigel Farage pledged to support him in the election for the National Executive Committee. Hamilton was elected to the committee on 1 November 2011. He later become deputy chairman of the party. Hamilton was demoted from his role as campaign director in April 2014. In the May 2014 local elections, he stood as a UKIP candidate in the St Mary's"
"Office. In 2000, Glen went to work for William Hague, who was then Leader of the Conservative Party. In his role as Head of the Political Section of the Conservative Research Department, he helped prepare Hague for Prime Minister's Question Time and briefed the Shadow Cabinet for media appearances. Glen was one of the youngest candidates at the 2001 general election, when he unsuccessfully stood in Plymouth Devonport as the Conservative candidate. He came second, achieving 27.1% of the vote and a 2.9% swing. Following the election, he took an MBA at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and worked in the oil"
"the party's policy platform was considered to have shifted to a right wing focus. Hague was also hindered by a series of embarrassing publicity stunts, and resigned as party leader three months later, becoming the first leader of the Conservative or Unionist party in the House of Commons since Austen Chamberlain to not also be Prime Minister. The election was essentially a repeat of the 1997 election, with Labour losing only 6 seats overall and the Conservatives making a net gain of one seat (gaining nine seats, but losing eight). The Conservatives did manage to gain a seat in Scotland,"
"Conservative government used a change in standing orders in October 2015 to give MPs representing English constituencies a ""veto"" over laws only affecting England. Following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, it was suggested by Conservative MPs that Scottish MPs should be barred from voting on matters that do not affect Scotland. In July 1999, Conservative Party leader William Hague said that ""English MPs should have exclusive say over English laws ... People will become increasingly resentful that decisions are being made in England by people from other parts of the UK on matters that English people did"
"unbeknown to the Leader of the Opposition (in the Commons) William Hague, and to his annoyance. Hague however accepted the proposals, dismissing Cranborne for the conduct in negotiations, and Strathclyde was appointed to succeed him. Under his leadership, the House of Lords Act 1999 passed: under this, Strathclyde was elected by other peers as one of the 92 hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords. He won Channel 4 Peer of the Year 2000, and Spectator Peer of the Year 2004. When the Conservatives formed a coalition government under David Cameron in May 2010, Strathclyde became Leader of"