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He worked for Kerr McGee Oil (UK) Ltd from
1981 - 1983. He contested the Birmingham Perry Barr seat at the 1983
Election
In 1982 Michael and Carolyn married. They
had first met when they were at school. Carolyn had become a chartered
accountant and for the last fifteen years has been a 'headhunter' with
Spencer Stuart Associates.
Michael returned to politics as a special
adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Nigel Lawson) and in
December 1984 won the by-election in Enfield Southgate, caused by the
murder of Sir Anthony Berry MP in the Brighton bombing. Michael
represented the seat for thirteen years but was defeated in the 1997
Election.
He joined the Government in 1986, and
remained a member until 1997. He was a whip, Parliamentary Under
Secretary for Social Security, Minister of State for Transport, Minister
of State for Local Government and Inner Cities; and as a Cabinet
Minister was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for
Employment, and Secretary of State for Defence. He was admitted to the
Privy Council in 1992.
After his 1997 electoral defeat, Michael
returned to Kerr McGee as an adviser. He also turned to journalism. He
wrote about walking as a pilgrim on the Santiago Way, and working as a
hospital porter. He had a weekly column in The Scotsman.
He had a three part series for Channel 4
about politics Portillo's Progress, and a programme in BBC2's Great
Railway Journeys series, which was partly a biography of his late
father, and radio programmes on Wagner and on the Spanish Civil War.
Michael was re-elected to Parliament in a
by-election in Kensington and Chelsea in November 1999 and was Shadow
Chancellor of the Exchequer February 2000 - September 2001.
Following the Conservatives' election
defeat in 2001, Michael contested the leadership of the party. He was
unsuccessful, and decided to return to the backbenches and stood down
from the seat at the 2005 election.
He has made a number of television
programmes for BBC2 including Art that shook the world: Richard Wagner's
Ring, Portillo in Euroland, Elizabeth I in the series Great Britons,
When Michael Portillo became a Single Mum, and Portillo Goes Wild in
Spain (a natural history programme). For BBC4 he has made several series
of Dinner with Portillo, a discussion programme. In 2006 he joined The
Moral Maze team on BBC Radio 4. In 2003 he began the weekly political
discussion programme This Week on BBC1 with fellow presenters Andrew
Neil and Diane Abbott MP. Beginning in 2004 Michael became a weekly
columnist on The Sunday Times and was the theatre critic of The New
Statesman between 2004 and 2006.
In 2008 he was appointed chair of the MAN
Booker prize.
Michael is a member of the International
Commission on Missing Persons in the former Yugoslavia (which organises
the identification of massacre victims) under the chairmanship of Jim
Kimsey, and sat on of the Board of BAE Systems plc from 2002 to 2006. He
joined the board of the Kerr McGee Corporation in 2006. He is President
of DebRA, the national charity working on behalf of people with the
genetic skin blistering condition, Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). He is the
British chairman of the British-Spanish Tertulias, which organises
annual meetings between the two countries.
In 2009 and 2010 he has made 45 half hour programmes for “Great British
Railway Journeys”. The second series is expected to be screened on BBC2
early in 2011.
Michael is a very popular after dinner speaker and/or conference
host/keynote speaker.
"We thoroughly enjoyed having Michael
Portillo as the MC and speaker at the British Expertise International
Awards" November 2011
"Michael Portillo was an excellent keynote
speaker – he is very funny and was able to tell jokes with a style that
many a professional comedian would be proud of. He was also very
empathetic with our audience and had listened to the brief. He gave a
very wide ranging and fascinating speech and the audience loved
him." Michael addressed the Interchange & Consort Hotels annual
conference in Marbella, January 2011
"…everyone is raving about his role at our
conference. He has been described as gracious, responsive and asking the
most impressive questions of the day - needless to say we are absolutely
thrilled and very grateful." National Year of Reading - September 2008
- Michael chaired their conference in London
"Michael Portillo went down very well…he made some jokes, and gave
interesting anecdotes as well as sticking very closely to the brief that
we gave to him, so a definite success."
Avail Consulting - June 2008
"…very well received and a delight to deal with" Informa - Michael has
hosted a number of their awards ceremonies
"…why can't everyone be so accommodating
and pleasant!"
RICS - Michael spoke and hosted an awards ceremony in the North East in
Spring 2007
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