Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 1997

A leadership election was triggered in the British Conservative Party when John Major resigned on 2 May 1997, following his party's defeat at the 1997 general election (which ended 18 years of Conservative government of the UK).

Candidates

Announced

William Hague was a candidate for Leader of the Conservative Party.

Kenneth Clarke was a candidate for Leader of the Conservative Party.

Michael Howard was a candidate for Leader of the Conservative Party.

The following candidates announced their intention to stand:

• Kenneth Clarke
• William Hague
• Michael Howard
• Peter Lilley
• John Redwood

Announced but withdrew

• Stephen Dorrell - withdrew in favour of Clarke before the ballot

Declined Candidates

• Michael Heseltine - had been widely expected to contest the leadership but declined to following health concerns

Not an MP at the time

In the months before the general election a number of other prominent Conservatives were talked about as potential leaders; however, several failed to hold their seats in the general election including the following:

• Ian Lang
• Michael Portillo
• Malcolm Rifkind

In addition, many had speculated about Chris Patten returning to Westminster (he had lost his seat in the 1992 election) and becoming leader; however, the contest took place before Patten's term of office as Governor of Hong Kong ended.

Results

First Ballot: 10 June 1997
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		164	100
Michael Howard eliminated.

Howard had been regarded as a serious contender but had been damaged by the criticisms of Ann Widdecombe (who had served under him at the Home Office) that he had "something of the night about him" and by the decision of William Hague, who had originally agreed to support Howard and become Deputy Leader, to stand in his own right.

Second round

Peter Lilley withdrew. He and Howard gave their backing to William Hague.

Second Ballot: 17 June 1997
Candidate		Votes	%
	Kenneth Clarke	64	39.0
	William Hague	62	37.8
	John Redwood	38	23.2
Turnout		164	100
John Redwood eliminated

Final Round

For the final round, Redwood gave his backing to Clarke in return for a promise of the job of Shadow Chancellor, an unusual development in that Redwood (eurosceptic) and Clarke (europhile) held opposite views on the main issue of dispute amongst Conservatives. Former Conservative Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher, not herself eligible to vote as she was no longer an MP but a key swayer of Conservative opinion, endorsed Hague in a public photocall outside the House of Commons, and, in the event, most of Redwood's supporters switched to Hague rather than to Clarke.

Third Ballot: 19 June 1997
Candidate		Votes	%
	William Hague	90	55.2
	Kenneth Clarke	72	44.2
	Abstentions	1	0.6
Turnout		163	99.4
Kenneth Clarke eliminated, William Hague elected

Julian Lewis announced that he was the only MP who did not vote.

Aftermath

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 short-list 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 done to Iain Duncan Smith in 2003. A leader could therefore (in principle) be ousted by MPs despite still enjoying the support of the mass membership.