Michael Portillo Biography and Wiki
Michael Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and also former politician. He is known for his series such as Great British Railway Journeys and Great Continental Railway Journeys. He was a Conservative Party member who represented Enfield Southgate in Parliament.
Michael Portillo Age
Portillo is 68 years old as of 2021, he was born on May 26, 1953, in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
Michael Portillo Birthday
Portillo celebrates his birthday on the 26th of May every year.
Michael Portillo Height
Portillo stands at an average height of 5 feet 9 inches.
Michael Portillo Parents and Family
Portillo was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, to a Scottish mother, Cora Waldegrave, and an exiled Spanish Republican father, Luis Gabriel Portillo. Portillo’s father, a devoted Catholic, was a member of left-wing parties in the 1930s and emigrated to England after Madrid fell to General Franco in 1939.
Michael Portillo Education
Portillo attended Stanburn Primary School in Stanmore, Greater London, and Harrow County School for Boys before winning a scholarship to Peterhouse College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a first-class degree in history. He had been a supporter of the Labour Party when he was in school.
Michael Portillo Wife and Married
Portillo is married to his loving wife Carolyn Eadie. In their marriage, Portillo and his wife have been blessed with three wonderful children, a son, and two daughters.
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Michael Portillo BBC Wikipedia
Portillo has followed his media interests since leaving politics, hosting and participating in a variety of television and radio programs. In 2010, he began filming the BBC documentary series Great British Railway Journeys, in which he explores the British railway networks while referring to various editions of Bradshaw’s Guide.
Portillo stayed with Kerr-McGee after the election, although he also did a lot of media work, including programs for the BBC and Channel 4. “I had some homosexual experiences as a young guy,” Portillo revealed in a summer 1999 interview with The New York Times.
Despite Lord Tebbit accusing Portillo of lying about the extent of his sexual “deviance,” and similar accusations from an acquaintance included in a profile of Portillo in The Guardian newspaper, he was able to return to Parliament a few weeks after giving that interview.
Portillo was sent to the backbenches after Duncan Smith was elected leader. He voted in favor of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. He rejected an offer of a Shadow Cabinet position from new Conservative leader Michael Howard in November 2003. In the 2005 general election, he did not run for re-election. His Conservative Party membership has subsequently lapsed.
Michael Portillo Politics
Portillo was first elected to the House of Commons in a by-election in 1984 and went on to serve as a junior minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major before joining the Cabinet in 1992. He was a “darling of the right” and was touted as a probable opponent to Major in the 1995 Conservative leadership race, but he did not run. Portillo was a Thatcherite and a Eurosceptic. He pushed for a policy of “clear blue water” to separate the Conservatives from the Labour Party as Defence Secretary.
At the 1997 general election, he unexpectedly lost the formerly secure Conservative Enfield Southgate seat. As a result, the phrase “Portillo moment” was coined. Portillo returned to the Commons as Shadow Chancellor after winning a by-election in Kensington and Chelsea in 1999. In 2001, he ran for the party’s leadership and finished third, behind Iain Duncan Smith and Kenneth Clarke. After the 2005 general election, he stepped down from the House of Commons and from active politics.
Michael Portillo Net Worth
Portillo has an estimated net worth of $2 million as of 2022.
