Ffion Llywelyn Hague, Baroness Hague of Richmond, (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Jenkins; 21 February 1968) is a Welsh broadcaster, author, former

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, and wife of Conservative politician

William Hague William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...

. Born Ffion Jenkins in Cardiff, she is a native Welsh speaker and first became known when she was selected to teach the language to her future husband when he was

Secretary of State for Wales The secretary of state for Wales (), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Ki ...

. She is the younger sister of

Manon Antoniazzi Manon Bonner Antoniazzi (''née'' Jenkins, previously Williams; born 15 April 1965) is a Welsh senior civil servant. Since April 2017 she has occupied the position of Chief Executive and Clerk of the Senedd. Previously she held the position o ...

, who served as the assistant private secretary to

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

and is now Chief Executive and Clerk of the Senedd.

Early life

She is the daughter of Emyr and Myra Jenkins. Her father was a television presenter, director of the

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

, and the chief executive of the

Arts Council of Wales The Arts Council of Wales (ACW; ) is a Welsh Government-sponsored body, responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales. Established within the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1946, as the Welsh Arts Council (), its English name w ...

. Her mother was a Welsh tutor and

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

. She attended

Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf is a Welsh medium education, Welsh-medium coeducational secondary school in Llandaff North, a district in the north of Cardiff, Wales; it is the largest of its kind in the country. Of the three Welsh-medium secondary ...

, a Welsh-language comprehensive school in Cardiff, and went on to study English at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

. After graduating she joined the civil service. She played the

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

in the

National Youth Orchestra of Wales The National Youth Orchestra of Wales (NYOW, ) is the national youth orchestra of Wales, based in Cardiff. Founded in 1945, it is the longest-standing national youth orchestra in the world. Organisation The orchestra numbers around 115 young ...

and sang in the National Youth Choir of Wales.

Career

Hague was a director of the

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organisations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt in 1941 based on the educational principles of Kurt Hahn. Today there are organisations, called schools, i ...

Trust from 1 April 2009 until 7 December 2012. She was a director of Hanson Green, an executive recruitment firm from 11 December 2003, until it merged with Directorbank on 1 February 2008. Previously, she had been a director of ''The Voices Foundation'' from 23 September 1998, until she resigned on 12 July 2005. Hague is also a published author best known for her biography of

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

, entitled ''The Pain and the Privilege: The Women in Lloyd George's Life''. For

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

, she presented the series ''Mamwlad'' (2012), ''Tri Lle'' (2010) and ''Dwy Wraig Lloyd George'' (2009). She has also presented programmes for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

and

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

Personal life

She met William Hague in 1995, when she became his private secretary at the

Welsh Office The Welsh Office () was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Wales, a post wh ...

. Because of the embarrassment caused by the previous Welsh secretary

John Redwood Sir John Alan Redwood (born 15 June 1951) is a British politician and academic who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wokingham in Berkshire from 1987 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Secretary of State for Wales in the ...

, who was unable to sing the Welsh national anthem, it was decided that his successor should learn the words. They were married on 19 December 1997, at the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

, and currently reside in

Richmond, North Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located at the point where Swaledale, the upper valley of the River Swale, opens into the Vale of Mowbray. The town's population at the 2011 ...

. When her husband was raised to the peerage in 2015 as Baron Hague of Richmond, she became The Lady Hague of Richmond. William Hague disclosed in September 2010 that she had suffered a number of miscarriages as they tried to start a family. They do not have any children. In 2015 the couple became owners by purchase of Cyfronydd Hall near

Welshpool Welshpool ( ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, historically in the Historic counties of Wales, county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn. The c ...

, Wales. Hague was appointed a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in the

2024 Birthday Honours The 2024 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Charles III, King Charles III to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

'for Public Service and to Business'.https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4644768

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hague, Ffion 1968 births Living people Welsh biographers People educated at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Welsh civil servants Welsh women civil servants Welsh-language television presenters Welsh radio presenters BBC Radio 3 presenters BBC Radio 4 presenters Welsh television executives British women radio presenters Spouses of life peers 20th-century Welsh businesswomen 20th-century Welsh businesspeople 21st-century Welsh businesswomen 21st-century Welsh businesspeople Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century British women civil servants