# Electoral history of William Hague

This is a summary of the electoral history of William Hague, who was leader of the Conservative Party from 19 June 1997 to 13 September 2001 and has been an MP since 1989.

## Parliamentary Elections
### 1987 General Election, Wentworth

General Election 1987: Wentworth :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Peter Hardy | 30,205 | 65.2 |
| | Conservative | William Hague | 10,113 | 21.8 |
| | SDP | D. M. Elgin | 6,031 | 13.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 20,092 | 43.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 72.6 |

### By Election 1989, Richmond (Yorks)

Richmond by-election, 1989 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Hague | 19,543 | 37.2 | −24.0 |
| | SDP | Mike Potter | 16,909 | 32.2 | |
| | SLD | Barbara Pearce | 11,589 | 22.1 | −4.9 |
| | Labour | Frank Robson | 2,591 | 4.9 | −6.9 |
| | Green | Dr. Robert Upshall | 1,473 | 2.8 | |
| | Monster Raving Loony | David "Lord" Sutch | 167 | 0.3 | |
| | Independent (politician) | Anthony Millns$^1$ | 113 | 0.2 | |
| | Corrective Party | Lindi St Clair | 106 | 0.2 | |
| | Liberal | Nicholas Watkins | 70 | 0.1 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,634 | 5.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,561 | 64.4 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### 1992 General Election, Richmond (Yorks)

General Election 1992: Richmond (Yorks) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | William Hague | 40,202 | 61.86 |
| | Liberal Democrats | G. Irwin | 16,698 | 25.69 |
| | Labour | R. Cranston | 7,523 | 11.58 |
| | Independent | M. Barr | 570 | 0.88 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 23,504 | 36.16 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 78.42 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |

### 1997 General Election, Richmond (Yorks)

General Election 1997: Richmond (Yorks) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Hague | 23,326 | 48.86 | −13.00 |
| | Labour Co-op | Steven Merritt | 13,275 | 27.81 | +16.23 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jane Harvey | 8,773 | 18.38 | −7.31 |
| | Referendum | Alex Bentley | 2,367 | 4.96 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,051 | 21.05 | −15.11 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,741 | 73.38 | −5.04 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -13.90 | |

### 2001 General Election, Richmond (Yorks)

General Election 2001: Richmond (Yorks) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Hague | 25,951 | 58.9 | +10.1 |
| | Labour Co-op | Fay Tinnion | 9,632 | 21.9 | −5.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Edward Forth | 7,890 | 17.9 | −0.5 |
| | Monster Raving Loony | Boney Maronie Steniforth | 561 | 1.3 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,319 | 37.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,034 | 67.4 | −6.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### 2005 General Election, Richmond (Yorks)

General Election 2005: Richmond (Yorks) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Hague | 26,722 | 59.1 | +0.2 |
| | Labour | Neil Foster | 8,915 | 19.7 | −2.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jacquie Bell | 7,982 | 17.7 | −0.2 |
| | Green | Leslie Rowe | 1,581 | 3.5 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 17,807 | 39.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 45,200 | 65.0 | −2.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### 2010 General Election, Richmond (Yorks)

General Election 2010: Richmond (Yorks) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | William Hague * | 33,541 | 62.8 | +3.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Lawrence Meredith | 10,205 | 19.1 | +2.2 |
| | Labour | Eileen Driver | 8,150 | 15.3 | −5.3 |
| | Green | Leslie Rowe | 1,516 | 2.8 | −0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 23,336 | 43.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,412 | 67.2 | +2.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

## 1997 Conservative Party leadership election

First Ballot: 4 May 1997 :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Kenneth Clarke | 49 | 29.9 |
| | William Hague | 41 | 25.0 |
| | John Redwood | 27 | 16.5 |
| | Peter Lilley | 24 | 14.6 |
| | Michael Howard | 23 | 14.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 164 | 100 |
| Michael Howard eliminated. ||||
Second Ballot: 5 May 1997 :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Kenneth Clarke | 64 | 39.0 |
| | William Hague | 62 | 37.8 |
| | John Redwood | 38 | 23.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 164 | 100 |
| John Redwood eliminated ||||
Second Ballot: 6 May 1997 :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | William Hague | 90 | 55.2 |
| | Kenneth Clarke | 72 | 44.2 |
| | Abstentions | 1 | 0.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 163 | 99.4 |
| Kenneth Clarke eliminated, William Hague elected ||||

## United Kingdom general election, 2001

UK General Election 2001 :
| Party | Party | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Party | Party | Stood | Elected | Gained | Unseated | Net | % of total | % | No. | Net % |
| | Labour | 640 | 413 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 62.5 | 40.7 | 10,724,953 | −2.5% |
| | Conservative | 643 | 166 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 25.2 | 31.7 | 8,357,615 | +1.0% |
| | Liberal Democrats | 639 | 52 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 7.9 | 18.3 | 4,814,321 | +1.5% |
| | SNP | 72 | 5 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 464,314 | −0.2% |
| | UKIP | 428 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 390,563 | 1.2% |
| | UUP | 17 | 6 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 216,839 | 0.0% |
| | Plaid Cymru | 40 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 195,893 | +0.2% |
| | DUP | 14 | 5 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 181,999 | +0.4% |
| | Sinn Féin | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 175,933 | +0.3% |
| | SDLP | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 169,865 | 0.0% |
| | Green | 145 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 166,477 | +0.3% |
| | Independent | 136 | 0 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 97,070 | +0.3% |
| | Scottish Socialist | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 72,516 | N/A |
| | Socialist Alliance | 98 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 57,553 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | 114 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 57,288 | 0.0% |
| | BNP | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 47,129 | +0.1% |
| | Alliance | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 28,999 | −0.1% |
| | Health Concern | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 28,487 | N/A |
| | Liberal | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 13,685 | 0.0% |
| | UK Unionist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 13,509 | +0.1% |
| | ProLife Alliance | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9,453 | −0.1% |
| | Legalise Cannabis | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8,677 | N/A |
| | People's Justice | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7,443 | N/A |
| | Monster Raving Loony | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6,655 | 0.0% |
| | PUP | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4,781 | 0.0% |
| | Mebyon Kernow | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3,199 | 0.0% |
| | NI Women's Coalition | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2,968 | 0.0% |
| | Scottish Unionist Party (modern) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2,728 | N/A |
| | Rock 'n' Roll Loony | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2,634 | N/A |
| | National Front | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2,484 | 0.0% |
| | Workers' Party | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2,352 | 0.0% |
| | Neath Port Talbot Ratepayers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,960 | N/A |
| | NI Unionist | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,794 | N/A |
| | Socialist Alternative | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,454 | 0.0% |
| | Reform 2000 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,418 | N/A |
| | Isle of Wight | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,164 | N/A |
| | Muslim | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,150 | N/A |
| | Communist | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,003 | 0.0% |
| | New Britain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 888 | 0.0% |
| | Free Party | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 832 | N/A |
| | Leeds Left Alliance | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 770 | N/A |
| | New Millennium Bean Party | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 727 | N/A |
| | Workers Revolutionary | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 607 | 0.0% |
| | Tatton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 505 | N/A |
| Government's new majority | 167 |
| Total votes cast | 26,368,204 |
| Turnout | 59.4% |
All parties with more than 500 votes shown.