Michael Portillo

Profile: Full name: Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo Area of interest: Politics Journals/Organisation: The Sunday Times Email: michael@michaelportillo.co.uk Personal website: http://www.michaelportillo.co.uk Website: Blog: Representation: Networks:

Biography: About: A politician and Conservative cabinet minister, from 2002 onwards, Portillo developed an active career in media, both as a commentator on public affairs and as a writer and/or presenter of TV and radio documentaries. See Wikipedia media career. Official biography here Education: Harrow County Grammar School; Peterhouse, Cambridge: History (first class) Career: Shippng company, Ocean Transport and Trading Co.; Conservative Research Department CRD, 1976; after Conservative Party victory, 1979, government adviser; returned Kerr-McGee Oil, 1981/83; stood for Birmingham Perry Barrin seat, general election, 1983 (losing to Jeff Rooker); government special adviser (to Nigel Lawson); won Enfield Southgate by-election, December 1984 (incumbent, Sir Anthony Berry, killed by the IRA in the Brighton hotel bombing); Parliamentary Private Secretaryto John Moore and then an assistant whip; Under Secretary for Social Security, 1987; Minister of State for Transport, 1988; Local Government portfolio, 1990; Serving under John Major: Chief Secretary to the Treasury, 1992; Secretary of State for Employment, 1994; Secretary of State for Defence, 1995/97); lost the Enfield Southgate seat to Stephen Twigg, general election, 1997; returned to advise Kerr McGee; began a media career: a weekly column in The Scotsman; a series for Channel 4, Portillo's Progress; programme in BBC2’s Great Railway Journeys series - partly a biography of his late father; radio programmes on wagner and the Spanish Civil War; re-elected to Parliament as MP for Kensington and Chelsea, November 1999; Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, February 2000/September 2001; unsuccessfully contested the leadership of the party after the Conservative election defeat of 2001; left the House of Commons, 2005; continues his media career Current position/role: previously a Sunday Times' Columnist; Co-host on BBC's This Week politics programme also writes/written for: Other roles/Main role: Other activities: Disclosures: Viewpoints/Insight: Farewell politics, hello celebrity, Michael White, The Guardian, 2003; The transformation of Michael Portillo: Less power - but a lot more fun, interview with Ian Burrell, The Independent, 2006 Broadcast media: Video: BBC4 discussion programme, Dinner with Portillo, since 2002 - now in fifth series (2007); See Michael Portillo.co.uk: Broadcast / documentaries clips; See IMDb Controversy/Criticism: Awards/Honours: Scoops: Other: His wife Carolyn is a chartered accountant - for the last fifteen years has been a 'headhunter' with Spencer Stuart Associates

Books & Debate: Michael Gove's biography of Michael Portillo, (Fourth Estate, 1995) ISBN 1857023358 Latest work: Speaking/Appearances: Michael Portillo.co.uk: Forthcoming events; The Lonon Speaker Bureau; The Edge Current debate:forthcoming events

The Sunday Times: Column name: Remit/Info: Politics Section: Features Role: Commentator Pen-name: Email: michael.portillo@sunday-times.co.uk Website: TimesOnline Commissioning editor: Day published: Sunday Regularity: Weekly Column format: Average length: 1300 words

Articles: Steady, PM — that looked like a flinch - What I know is that the success or failure of the spending round rests on the cabinet’s belief that the prime minister will not falter - 15th August 2010 Tories hurt the most in this crisis - Lack of clarity has bedevilled the party since Thatcher, and it is getting a little late to resolve it now - 21st February 2010 Whatever... Cameron gets No 10 - Who will win the election? That’s hard to answer. Who will be prime minister after it? That's easier: David Cameron - 27th December 2009 One clear aim will save British lives - The mushrooming of war aims in Afghanistan has befuddled the public. Everyone is confused about what Britain is fighting for - 6th September 2009 The idle should be entitled to nothing - The unrealisable hope of winning the lottery or appearing on Big Brother has supplanted the traditional appetite for qualifications and careers - 30th August 2009 If there was a deal with Libya, it stinks - Everything about Lockerbie, up to and including the release from prison of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi has always been murky - 23rd August 2009 Fat and lazy at the wicket, as in life - The financial crisis was caused partly because instant gratification is part of the national psyche - 16th August 2009 Next business: to save parliament - The hostility Bercow faces from the Tories is absurd - 9th August 2009 The army’s been hit by Brown’s unfriendly fire - Gordon Brown is now to be seen contradicting those who command the soldiers sacrificing limb and life in Helmand - 26th July 2009 Alan Johnson alone can stop the Tories - There ought to be no doubt about the result of the next election. Labour should be a shoo-in - 31st May 2009 Humiliation tames our little despots - If the home secretary were a pet, she would be taken to the vet for a painless end - 19th April 2009 Global Gordon fails to see the rage at home - Perhaps the heady pleasure of international recognition leads a leader to despise, or at least neglect, domestic concerns - 12th April 2009 Voters can smell a rat behind Brown - The prime minister's rhetoric and lack of candour stand between him and the shopfloor worker - 8th March 2009 Get busy, Mr Cameron, victory isn’t certain - With experts in turmoil, voters know nobody has the answer, so Cameron must instead offer vision - 22nd February 2009 You can’t bully a saver into spending - The government’s abandonment of its own borrowing rules intensifies their sense of crisis - 11th January 2009 Mandelson opens a euro trap for Brown - The government has risen in the polls. That should shame the Tories - 4th January 2009 Holy Land tops pile in the in-tray from hell - The MIddle East issue has been dogged by weak leadership in America, in Israel and among the Palestinians - 28th December 2008 Britain has lost the stomach for a fight - British commanders underestimated both the enemy’s effectiveness and the Americans’ ability to adapt - 21st December 2008 The deadly weapon Cameron daren’t use - Kenneth Clarke has what his party’s front bench lacks: a combination of independent-mindedness, experience and gravitas - 14th December 2008 Now call a snap election, Gordon - If voters think Gordon Brown is a decisive leader and don’t believe that he caused the mess we are in, then the Tories have real problems - 2nd November 2008 Brown’s fallen into Salmond’s tax trap - In local taxation Alex Salmond has found the perfect subject to stoke Scottish resentment - 7th September 2008 Brown has used up his inheritance - The PM remains anchored on the middle ground but if Labour loses the election it will again drift off to the left towards political obscurity - 24th August 2008 A world role for Britain slips away - With Gordon Brown presiding over a shrinking foreign policy, could Britain become invisible on the world stage? - 17th August 2008 Knifing Brown will kill Labour, Mr Miliband - Resorting to three prime ministers in 15 months looks desperate, however you dress it up - 3rd August 2008 archive

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Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Portillo