Michael Portillo - Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

Portillo returned to advisory work for the government and in December 1984 he stood for and won the Enfield Southgate by-election following the murder of the incumbent, Sir Anthony Berry, in the bombing by the IRA of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

Portillo retained the Enfield Southgate seat until 1997. Initially he was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Moore and then an assistant whip. In 1987 he was made under secretary for social security, in 1988 he was given his first ministerial post as Minister of State for Transport. He has claimed that "saving the Settle to Carlisle railway was his greatest achievement in politics."

He then held the local government portfolio (1990), arguing in favour of the ultimately highly unpopular Community Charge system (popularly known as Poll Tax). He demonstrated a consistently right-of-centre line (exemplified by his insistence, in a well-publicised speech, of placing 'clear blue water' between the policies of the Conservatives and other parties) and was favoured by Norman Tebbit and Margaret Thatcher. His rise continued under John Major; he was made a Cabinet Minister as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1992), and admitted to the Privy Council the same year. Portillo subsequently held the portfolios of Employment (1994) and then Defence (1995–1997). His high profile led to constant attention from the media, including the magazine Private Eye, which mocked him as Portaloo. He was accused of vanity when the Alexandra Palace was hired to celebrate his ten years in politics.

Some saw the Defence Secretary post as a reward for his cautious loyalty to Major during the 1995 leadership challenge of John Redwood, following Major's "back me or sack me" resignation as party leader. Many urged Portillo to run against Major, and he set up a potential campaign headquarters with banks of telephone lines. He later admitted that this was an error; "I did not want to oppose, but neither did I want to close the possibility of entering a second ballot if it came to that." His opponents within the party later used Portillo's apparent equivocation as an example of his indecisiveness, and he acknowledged that "ambiguity is unattractive."

As Defence Secretary Portillo invited criticism by invoking the motto of the SAS, "Who Dares, Wins", at a speech at the Conservative Party annual conference.