FORMER Tory leader William Hague has landed an American publishing deal, according to reports.
Richmond MP Mr Hague is said to have returned from New York with an advance for the US rights to his forthcoming biography of Pitt the Younger.
Mr Hague, who pledged to stay in politics after stepping down as Tory leader, does not have to deliver a draft of the book until 2004.
Reports at the weekend claimed the American's fascination with William Pitt, who ruled just after the War of Independence, helped Mr Hague land the US contract with publishers Knopf.
Mr Hague, who has never written a book before, is expected to concentrate on Pitt's political rather than personal life in the forthcoming book.
The deal follows reports earlier in the year that Harper-Collins bid £200,000 to get the UK rights for the book, and Mr Hague is also thought to be in talks with television companies wanting to turn the book into a series.
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