William Hague

William Hague has delivered a year of outstanding columns, full of interesting and original arguments, often with a significant impact on public debate. He is unafraid to criticise his own former colleagues and has made the case for a series of initiatives with cross party appeal. He has developed his own style, which usually combines insights from his own career with a fresh analysis of an issue and a clear recommendation of what needs to be done.

William’s column covers a huge range of subjects: often geopolitics and the domestic political situation, but also science, economics, food, nature and artificial intelligence. He is skilled at explaining complex problems to the general reader. You always learn something new. Some of his pieces have been influential in shaping government and opposition policy and have been widely quoted in other media outlets.

His column on HS2 in August was an example – it caused a major stir and sparked renewed and wide debate about whether the project should proceed. His denunciation of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson for refusing to take responsibility for their fall from office was a memorable piece of writing. William’s column on smartphones and children has been followed by government action on their use in schools. He was writing about the imminent importance of AI before other commentators latched on to it.

William Hague is a very rare case of a front-rank politician making a successful transition to prominent and widely read journalism on a sustained basis.