Michael Portillo

We are thrilled to announce broadcaster and former Cabinet minister Michael Portillo will visit the Playhouse on 31st January 2016, for an afternoon in his company talking about his life and taking part in a Q&A session.

It took Michael Portillo little more than 10 years to get a seat in the Commons and then rise in power and esteem to a point where he was a favoured leader of his party and possible future PM.  A track record like that suggests to many a privileged friend of the rich and famous  with little or no understanding of or care for the ordinary citizen. But since leaving the house almost a decade ago Michael has endeared himself to many with  his obvious respect for solid workmanship and creative  energy, as found in our great Victorian Railways, and the daily toil of the working man, as well as the underprivileged (Michael becomes a Single Mum) and the troubled (Death of a School Friend ).

A historian at heart, listen to his extraordinary story and then feel free to question him about it.