| I would imagine William Hague won over many new friends during his appearance at Cheltenham Town Hall last Thursday night. The crowd at the Cheltenham Festival of Literature event burst into spontaneous applause when it was suggested that Hague could be the next Conservative Chancellor. But the former Tory party leader wasn't as keen as his audience to throw himself back into the cut and thrust of front-line politics, saying he was having the "best time of his life". Doing the night shift As he's already demonstrated by his recent appearances on the BBC satirical programme "Have I Got News for You", Hague appears to have plenty of time to reflect on the the funny side of politics and described his time in charge of the Conservatives as "doing the night shift". Hague also shared some of his favourite letters from constituents: One said "I hope you can take some constructive criticism - your speech was rubbish." And his favourite: "Dear Mr Hague, The Taliban has taken over Ann Widdecombe's body, and no-one has noticed." Suitably embarrassed He even managed to look suitably embarrassed when the subject of his famous speech as a 16-year-old was raised during the introduction. But he's still clearly making his mark in the adult world and managed to engage the near capacity audience with an entertaining summary of his 652-page political biography of Pitt The Younger. William Hague was on stage at the Cheltenham Festival of Literature on Thursday 14th October 2004. Written by David Aston
>>More about Gloucestershire festivals | 
William Hague, former leader of the Conservative Party, was at the Cheltenham Festival of Literature to promote his book on Pitt the Younger...
