The Rt. Hon. Michael Portillo

One of the most high-profile political figures of recent years, Michael Portillo is a charismatic and highly engaging keynote and after dinner speaker, while his wealth of experience in politics and the media make him an excellent choice for chairing meetings and conferences.

A graduate of Peterhouse, Cambridge, he worked for the Conservative Party and for government ministers between 1976 and 1983, before entering the House of Commons in 1984. He was a minister for eleven years and held three positions in the Cabinet, including Secretary of State for Defence. On losing his seat at the 1997 election he began to develop a career in the media, before returning to the Commons between 2000 and 2005, during which time he was Shadow Chancellor and unsuccessfully contested the leadership of the party in 2001. 
Since leaving politics in 2005 he has devoted himself to writing and broadcasting and has made a number of television programmes for BBC2 including ‘Art That Shook The World’, ‘Richard Wagner’s Ring’, ‘Portillo In Euroland’ and ‘When Michael Portillo Became A Single Mum’.  He is a regular on BBC1’s current affairs discussion programme ‘This Week’ and Radio 4’s ‘Moral Maze’, and also writes for the Sunday Times.  He has recently been making a series of half-hour programmes, ‘Great British Railway Journeys’, for BBC2, with the second series due to be screened early in 2011.