Michael Portillo attended Harrow County grammar school and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read History.
He worked for the Conservative Party and for government ministers between 1976 and 1983, entering the House of Commons in 1984. He was a minister for eleven years and had three positions in the Cabinet, including Secretary of State for Defence.
In 1997 he began to develop a career in the media, returning to the Commons between 2000 and 2005 where he was shadow Chancellor and contested the leadership of the party in 2001.
Since leaving politics, he has devoted himself to writing and broadcasting, is a regular on both BBC 1’s “This Week” programme and Radio 4’s “Moral Maze”, and has presented two series of "Great British Railway Journeys" for the BBC.
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