FORMER Conservative leader William Hague has ruled himself out of the race to run the party.
The Richmond, North Yorkshire MP said he had no desire to again lead the Tories after Michael Howard announced he would stand down "sooner rather than later".
Mr Hague made the comments after he retained the North Yorkshire seat with a massive 17,000 majority.
Following the count, at Hambleton Leisure Centre, Northallerton, which finished just before dawn yesterday, Mr Hague said: "I don't want to talk about the leadership at this stage - there's no appetite for a change at the moment."
But hours later, after Mr Howard announced he would resign to allow a younger man to lead the party to the next election, Mr Hague repeated earlier statements that he had no desire to be leader again.
However, he admitted he may consider a position in the shadow cabinet.
With 26,722 votes, Mr Hague won his seat for the fifth time, by taking nearly 60 per cent of the ballot.
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