William Hague
Former Minister of State for Social Security and Disability of the United KingdomWikipedia
60
MENTIONS
41
EPISODES
35
PODCASTS
Search complete. 60 mentions across 41 episodes found for "William Hague".
Oct 24, 2026
Norman LamontGUEST
Very good.
Norman LamontGUEST
It was a rather sensitive point, though, because William Hague, who was my PPS, when he was later, years later, on the after-dinner speaking circuit, he used to tell a story that I'd held up the budget box and outside number 11, and inside was a bottle of whiskey.
Norman LamontGUEST
Well, if you know where the budget box is, actually, in my day, it was the original one that Gladstone had, and it was this thick.
Norman LamontGUEST
So the idea that a bottle of whiskey could go in there.
Josh WiddicombeHOST
So it's all good fun.
Josh WiddicombeHOST
But it kind of comes to be a symbol of new labor, really, doesn't it? Well, William Hague, the leader of the opposition, says it.
Josh WiddicombeHOST
It's like new labor.
Josh WiddicombeHOST
It's an empty, pointless tent in the middle of nowhere.
Danny FinkelsteinPANELIST
I was quite interested by...
Danny FinkelsteinPANELIST
And I worked for William Hague.
Danny FinkelsteinPANELIST
He used to have the same sandwich basically every day for lunch.
Danny FinkelsteinPANELIST
It was, I think, ham and cheese, just like on white bread every single day.
Sally MorganPANELIST
And he used to try and keep us all away from the fruit because, you know, number 10 is like they don't provide anything, really.
Sally MorganPANELIST
So his fruit came and we all went for the fruit and he used to get –
Danny FinkelsteinPANELIST
The thing about it, which is when William Hague taxed him with this disparity, he just said, well, I like both of them, don't
Hugo RifkindHOST
I? And that was just so brilliantly Tony Blair.
Nick McGeehanGUEST
Yeah.
Nick McGeehanGUEST
Can I go back first a little bit, Bill? Maybe to 2012 and the Arab Spring, when the British government and the British Foreign Secretary at the time, William Hague, talked a lot about the Arab Spring and heralded it as a great thing, as a good thing, and said that the British government would get behind the people of the region in their quest for democracy.
Nick McGeehanGUEST
This was not taken well in the United Arab Emirates, which saw the Arab Spring as a sort of existential problem.
Nick McGeehanGUEST
threat to their rule.
Johnny MercerGUEST
Uh, I don't know.
Johnny MercerGUEST
I mean, clearly, um, he, he is, uh, he-- I mean, I think William Hague said he's the worst president that he's seen in his lifetime.
Johnny MercerGUEST
Um, I mean, it's, it's the chaotic nature of it, I think that is very difficult, um, for world leaders and for world events to keep up with.
Johnny MercerGUEST
You know, only four weeks before he relieved sanctions on Russia, he'd actually signed them into law.
Nick HolderHOST
But actually, you know, this is Alan, so yeah, his looks are still important to him.
Nick HolderHOST
Uh, I enjoyed that he claims to be impossible to age along with Japanese women and William Hague.
Nick HolderHOST
[laughs]
Tom DarkHOST
[laughs]
Nick HolderHOST
Which I do like 'cause...
Nick HolderHOST
And also he describes his plastic surgery pal Gavin as looking like a smooth giant cat.
Nick HolderHOST
Um, and I thought to some degree that's also true of William Hague, isn't it? Like-
Tom DarkHOST
Mm
Gabby HinsliffGUEST
I mean, obviously, golden era is always when you were younger.
Gabby HinsliffGUEST
I would say that the ones, actually, the funniest ones were basically when William Hague was leader of the opposition, those were good exchanges because they were generally, because they were going to be funny.
Gabby HinsliffGUEST
And that kind of lifted, you know, everyone, if it was Blair facing him, it lifts the person who's facing you because they were just going to be very witty.
Gabby HinsliffGUEST
Fat lot of good it did him.
Ed VaizeyHOST
And then they pick the winner.
Ed VaizeyHOST
And funnily enough, William Hague's Christmas card is a local artist who only paints sheep.
Ed VaizeyHOST
But it is pretty much the same picture every year.
Ed VaizeyHOST
But, you know, that is what it's called.
Simon EvansGUEST
[laughs]It's, uh, I think it's all right when, uh, senior politicians don't have a huge amount of personality, and, and so the conversation goes on to...
Simon EvansGUEST
William Hague was a bit like that as foreign secretary, you know, after being a, a, a perhaps disappointing party leader.
Simon EvansGUEST
He had a long and, and successful, uh, term as foreign secretary, and the reason you knew it was successful is 'cause you didn't hear anything about it.
Geoff NorcottHOST
Like a referee.
Nicky GumbelHOST
He told the judge, I am resolute in my faith and Christianity and have no wish to recant.
Nicky GumbelHOST
The then UK Foreign Secretary William Hague paid tribute to his courage.
Nicky GumbelHOST
The Guardian newspaper described him as an inspiringly brave Christian.
Nicky GumbelHOST
Pastor Nadakani, like many Christians around the world today, still faces persecution for his faith.
31 more episodes mention William Hague.
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