In precisely 9 days Michael Portillo will no longer be a member of the UK House of Commons.
He no longer is anyway, Peter. He went with the dissolution.
Yeah I suppose thats technically true.
Michael Portillo was a leading light in the Conservative party, he served in three Cabinet posts, including as the high ranking Secretary of Defence. He was meant to challenge the Conservative party leadership in 1995, but never quite did; Had he, many think he would have defeated Major and become Prime Minister.
He was ousted from Parliament in the wipeout of 1997, being returned in a by-election in 1999 in a safe Tory seat. He did challenge the leadership in 2001, but lost out by one vote in the penultimate round.
Michael was originally a neo-liberal, but has moved leftward since then and is now considered a social libertarian, especially aided by his public transformation in which he admitted to homosexual experiences in his youth.
