Michael Portillo

[Essex Lad]

Which is what?

[Arginald Valleywater]

Love his Great Railway Journeys..

[Alex L]

One of his ancestors loosed off a canon ball at our great Vice Admiral Drake?

[Alex L]

Sorry, cannonball rather than the camera!

[max_tranmere]

The only thing controversial I ever heard about Michael Portillo was that he had a gay affair with Peter Lilley, another senior Tory and prominent member of the Major cabinet when both were cabinet ministers back in the 1990's. The story was that they used to have threesomes with other people aswell as getting it on as a twosome. I used to work in Whitehall and this rumour was doing the rounds.

The joke was:

Portillo: "shall we rent a video tonight?"

Lilley: "lets get Alladin" (geddit? get a lad in...)

I heard this back in the 1990's around Westminster a few times."

[Essex Lad]

Portillo admitted to a gay affair when at uni but the Lilley thing was a joke started by Jerry Hayes.

[Jonone]

Was it Portillo's idea of assimilating ?

[max_tranmere]

It may have been a joke started by Jerry Hayes, I wasn't aware of that, but a lot of people in Whitehall took it seriously. I worked for a decade just a stone's throw from Parliament Square for a large Government department and a lot of people mentioned the Portillo/Lilley "liaison". This story was told by a lot of people in local pubs where Civil Servants go aswell.