THIS newspaper said a fortnight ago the Conservative party should not dump Mr William Hague as its leader if the General Election turned out to be as disastrous for him as was expected.

It did turn out as bad as the polls predicted and Mr Hague pre-empted his party by dumping it before it could dump him. As befits an entirely honourable man, Mr Hague did the decent thing. As a former management consultant, he would only measure himself against something tangible and quantifiable and last week's result was cruelly indicative of a party which had made virtually no electoral progress in the four years of his leadership.

The silver lining for his Richmond constituents is that they will see more of him. He has always been an diligent constituency MP, despite the demands of high office. Now more of "his people" will get the chance to appreciate the qualities that those who have met him speak of so highly, but which, crucially, failed to come across in his television appearances.

A big question is will Mr Hague stay in politics? It is possible that the ambition which drove him to become leader of the Conservative party at such a young age - arguably too early - will not allow him to settle for what would be second-best in his chosen field. His talents could undoubtedly put to good use in the management consultancy field from whence he came. If he made himself available, corporate Britain would be queuing up to offer him challenging and rewarding jobs.

The Conservative party should persuade him to stay. It is not overburdened with politicians of the intellect and debating skills of Mr Hague. Those debating skills may have been devalued in the TV age but the Conservatives still need top-notch Commons performers and Mr Hague has few equals when it comes to rough-and-tumble in the House.

As the early stages of the party's leadership election gets underway, it is all too obvious that while many Tories fancy the job, perhaps only one or two could conceivably make a better fist of it than Mr Hague.

Whoever wins, the new leader should do everything possible to retain the former leader's services. The party needs talented young politicians and Mr Hague, despite the ageing process brought about by the bruising battle that has been the last four years, remains the Tories' brightest young star. A role, which puts to good use his skills and experience, should be found for him.