William was born in Rotherham in 1961.  Educated at Wath-on-Dearne Comprehensive School in Rotherham, Magdalen College, Oxford and INSEAD Business School, France, before entering Parliament, he worked for Shell UK and McKinsey & Co.  Whilst at Oxford, he was President of the Union and of the University Conservative Association.

William has been the Member of Parliament for Richmond, Yorkshire since 1989.

Whilst in Government, William was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Rt Hon Norman Lamont MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer from (1990-1993), Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the DSS (1993-1994) and Minister of State at the DSS with responsibility for Social Security and Disabled People (1994-1995).  He joined the Cabinet in 1995 as Secretary of State for Wales.

He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from 1997 to 2001.  While Leader, he was elected Chairman of the International Democrat Union, the global alliance of Conservative, Christian Democrat and like-minded parties, and he is currently the Assistant Chairman of the IDU.

In December 2005, he was appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary and Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet.

William married Ffion Jenkins in December 1997.