William Hague – Year of election 2009

William Hague was only 40 when he resigned as leader of the Conservative Party after the 2001 general election. He decided he would learn how to play the piano, and took up historical biography. As he recounted in last year’s Roy Jenkins Lecture, as soon as Roy Jenkins heard of this, he insisted on taking him out to lunch. “The lunch,” remembered Hague, “was long, large, and liquid.” The then President of the Royal Society of Literature imparted his best advice. Whatever length the publishers suggested for his book, he said, “it is important that you must take no notice of this whatsoever”. Never mind planning, he should start writing immediately. “Literally, start tomorrow.” The vital thing was momentum. And never mind research – just “Keep the artillery barrage just in front of the infantry.”

Alas, Roy Jenkins didn’t live to review William Pitt the Younger, which came out in 2004, but it was History Book of the Year at the National Book Awards the following year. William Wilberforce followed in 2008 – the life not only of a fellow parliamentarian but also of a fellow Yorkshireman.