Rt Hon Michael Portillo

Michael Portillo is a former Conservative politician, cabinet minister, journalist and television and radio broadcaster. He held positions as Defence Secretary, Employment Secretary and Chief Secretary to the Treasury in John Major’s cabinet, and was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Hague.

In addition to his political career, Portillo has a high profile in the media as a writer, commentator and presenter on television and radio. He appears on This Week alongside Andrew Neil and Diane Abbott, has presented documentaries including Art That Shook the World: Richard Wagner’s Ring, natural history programme Portillo Goes Wild in Spain, When Michael Portillo Became a Single Mum, and The Science of Killing. He hosts the long running series Dinner with Portillo whose guests have included Seymour Hersh, George Galloway and Benazir Bhutto, and the Channel 4 series Portillo’s Progress. Most recently, he presented Great British Railway Journeys, exploring Britain and discovering the socioeconomic and cultural impact of the railways, and the shifts that have taken place since George Bradshaw’s 19th-century guidebook was written. In 2008, he was chair of the Man Booker Prize.