Profile: Michael Portillo, hawk turned dove
Portillo, once a poster boy for the Tory right and spoken of as a possible prime minister, has made a series of documentaries explaining Irish history through a British lens, the latest, shown last week, on the fateful partition of Ireland in 1921
In Brief
Name: Michael Portillo
Age: 68
Appearance: charming, urbane, well tanned and better tailored
Newsworthiness: the former Tory minister’s ongoing series of documentaries on Ireland continues to garner plaudits
In Depth
It’s easy to forget, now that he’s more famous for steam trains, gaudy suits, and manhandling historical documents, that Michael Portillo was once a man in a very big hurry.
Cast your mind back to 1993, when John Major was caught unawares on ...
