Michael Portillo

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The Right Honourable Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo (born 26 May 1953) is a journalist, businessman, and former British Conservative politician.

Early life

He was born Michael Denzil Portillo in Bushey in Hertfordshire, and took the name Xavier at confirmation. His father was an exiled Spanish republican, Luis Gabriel Portillo, and his mother, the former Cora Blyth, is of Scottish extraction. An early brush with fame came when Portillo starred as a child in a television advertisement for Ribena, a blackcurrant cordial drink. He was educated at Harrow County Grammar School and then won a scholarship to Peterhouse, Cambridge where he came under the influence of Maurice Cowling. He graduated in 1975 with a first-class degree in history, and after a brief stint with Ocean Transport and Trading Co., a freight firm, he joined the Conservative Research Department in 1976. Following the Conservative victory in 1979 he became a government adviser. He left to work for Kerr-McGee Oil from 1981–1983 and contested his first political seat in the 1983 general election standing in Birmingham Perry Barr against Jeff Rooker and losing badly. He returned to advisory work for the government and in 1984 he stood and won the Enfield Southgate by-election following the death of the incumbent, Sir Anthony Berry, in the IRA terrorist bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England.

In government

Portillo retained the Enfield Southgate seat until 1997. Initially he was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Moore and then an assistant whip. In 1987 he was made under secretary for Social Security, in 1988 he was given his first ministerial post as Minister of State for Transport. He then held the local government portfolio (1990), during which time he argued in favour of the highly unpopular Community Charge system (popularly known as Poll Tax). He demonstrated a consistently right of centre line (exemplified by his insistence, in a well-publicised speech, of placing 'clear blue water' between the policies of the Conservatives and other parties) and was favoured by Norman Tebbit and Margaret Thatcher. His rise continued under John Major; he was made a Cabinet Minister as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1992) and subsequently held the portfolios of Employment (1994) and then Defence (1995-1997). His high profile career led to constant attention from the media, including the magazine Private Eye which mockingly referred to him as Portaloo.

The Defence job was seen by some as a reward for his cautious loyalty to Major during the leadership challenge of John Redwood, following Major's 'back me or sack me' resignation as party leader in 1995. Portillo was urged by many to stand himself against Major, and some embarrassment was incurred when it transpired that a supporter had set up a potential campaign HQ with banks of telephone lines. Portillo's apparent equivocation at this time was later seized on by his opponents within the party as a mark of his indecisiveness.

As Minister of Defence Portillo opposed the admission of homosexuals to the Armed Forces. He also invited criticism by invoking the motto of the SAS, "Who Dares, Wins", at a speech at the Conservative Party annual conference.

In opposition

His loss in the 1997 general election to Stephen Twigg came as a shock to many politicians and commentators, and came to symbolise the extent of the Conservatives' rout. Memorably he was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on the election night prior to the calling of his own seat and was stumped by the question of 'Are we seeing the end of the Conservative Party as a credible force in British politics?' He renewed his attachment to Kerr McGee but also did substantial media work to maintain his profile including programmes for the BBC and Channel 4. He worked hard to reposition his reputation as more of a centre-right figure. In an interview with The Times given in summer 1999, he admitted to youthful homosexual dalliances.

A few weeks after he had given this interview, the death of Alan Clark gave Portillo the opportunity to return to Parliament in a by-election in late November 1999 representing Kensington and Chelsea, succeeding in this very safe Conservative seat. In February 1 2000 William Hague promoted him to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chancellor. On February 3 Portillo stood opposite the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, in the House of Commons for the first time in his new role. During this session, Portillo made two significant announcements:

• The next Conservative Government will respect the independence of the Bank of England and will legislate to enhance that independence and increase accountability to Parliament.
• The next Conservative Government will not repeal the national minimum wage.

Both of these policies were flagship policies of New Labour and were bitterly opposed by the Conservative Party when introduced and indeed up until Portillo's announcement. Commentators suggested this was an example of Portillo taking the initiative in terms of Conservative Party policy and was the first step towards increasing acrimony between Hague and his shadow Chancellor.

Following the 2001 general election he contested the leadership of the party. In the first ballot of Conservative MPs, he led well. However this led to an onslaught of attacks from the right-wing press (notably the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail), including veiled (and not-so-veiled) references to his youthful gay experiences and to his equivocation at the time of Major's 1995 resignation. He was knocked out in the final round of voting by Conservative MPs, leaving party members to choose between Iain Duncan-Smith and Kenneth Clarke. When Duncan-Smith was elected leader Portillo returned to the backbenches. In 2003 he announced that he would not seek re-election and stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election.

In the wake of the election of David Cameron as Conservative leader, many commentators have wondered if Portillo's legacy is visible in the image changes the party is undergoing.

Media Personality

Since 2003 Portillo has appeared in the BBC weekly political discussion programme This Week with Andrew Neil and the Labour MP Diane Abbott. Portillo has known Abbott for many years: they both attended schools in the London Borough of Harrow , and Portillo once played Macbeth opposite Abbott's Lady Macbeth in a joint school production of the Shakespeare classic. The chemistry between Portillo and Abbott has been credited with ensuring the programme's popularity.

Portillo has featured in a number of television documentaries, including one on Richard Wagner (of whose music he is a notable fan), and two on Spain: Great Railway Journeys: From Granada to Salamanca for Channel 4 (2002), and a programme on Spanish wildlife for BBC Two's The Natural World series (2006). (Portillo is a fluent Spanish speaker). He showed an unsuspected side of his nature when he took over for one week the life, family and income of a single mother living on benefits in Liverpool ('When Michael Portillo became a Single Mum', TV, (2003)). He chose to present Queen Elizabeth I for the BBC's series of Great Britons in 2002. He writes a regular column for the UK Sunday Times, contributes to other journals, including the New Statesman, and is a regular radio broadcaster in the UK.

He has been married to Carolyn Eadie since 1982; they have no children. Until 2006 he was a non-executive director of BAE Systems plc. He stepped down from that position in March 2006 due to potential conflicts of interest. [1]

External links

• Michael Portillo official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics Ask Aristotle - Michael Portillo
• They Work For You - Michael Portillo
• The Public Whip - Michael Portillo voting record
• BBC News - Michael Portillo profile 8 March, 2005
• The Knitting Circle-Parliamentarians
• Harrow County Grammar School

Template:Start box {{succession box

 | title  = MP for Enfield Southgate
 | years  = 1984–1997
 | before = Sir Anthony Berry
 | after  = Stephen Twigg

}} {{succession box

 | title  = Chief Secretary to the Treasury
 | years  = 1992–1994
 | before = David Mellor
 | after  = Jonathan Aitken

}} Template:Succession box {{succession box

 | title  = Secretary of State for Defence
 | years  = 1995–1997
 | before = Malcolm Rifkind
 | after  = George Robertson

}} {{succession box

 | title  = MP for Kensington and Chelsea
 | years  = 1999–2005
 | before = Alan Clark
 | after = Malcolm Rifkind

}} Template:End box