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Michael Portillo

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Portillo is a thoughtful, humorous and intelligent speaker who is able to transcend political boundaries and provide you with a truly memorable event

Michael Portillo brings his vast knowledge and understanding of global issues to conferences around the globe. He is able to offer a unique insight to the issues that will shape our world, be they economic, political, commercial, or social.

The son of a refugee from the Spanish Civil War, Michael was born in England and attended Harrow County Grammar School, before progressing to Peter...

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...house, Cambridge, where he gained a first class degree in History. He left Cambridge in 1975, and for a year worked for a shipping company. He moved to the Conservative Research Department in 1976, where he spent three years. At the General Election in 1979 he was responsible for briefing Margaret Thatcher before her press conferences. For the next two years he was special adviser to the Secretary of State for Energy. He worked for Kerr McGee Oil (UK) Ltd from 1981 - 1983.

Michael Portillo 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.

Having joined the Government in 1986, he held numerous posts including, 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.

The British electorate kindly granted him a sabbatical from the House of Commons in 1997 and with the freedom to undertake new projects, Michael made several television programmes including a three part series for Channel 4 – Portillo’s Progress – and a programme for BBC2’s Great Railway Journeys series which was partly a biography of his late father. He had a weekly column in The Scotsman and also wrote about walking as a pilgrim on the Santiago Way and working as a hospital porter.

Michael Portillo 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.

After five years back in Parliament, he decided not to stand for re-election in 2005. In the intervening years, he made a number of television programmes for BBC2 including ‘Art that shook the world’, ‘Richard Wagner’s Ring’, ‘Portillo in Euroland’, he was the advocate for Elizabeth I in the series ‘Great Britons’ and ‘When Michael Portillo became a single mum’. He also features on a weekly basis in the current affairs discussion programme, ‘This Week’, hosted by Andrew Neil.

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. He is also Chairman of a chamber orchestra, Sinfonia 21, which is involved in pioneering work at the frontiers of music and science. He is a member of the Board of BAe Systems plc.

Feedback from our clients prove Michael Portillo to be a most charismatic, eloquent, informed and humorous speaker. He would be delighted to speak at your conference on any subject in which he has gained experience (see above), or to act as a facilitator, chairman, awards host or after dinner speaker.