What did you think of Portillo as a single mother?

Nice ASDA cap.

The eldest daughter evidently had a crush on him.

The one glaring question missing at the end of the programme was "Mr Portillo, how has this affected your beliefs and how will it affect your policies?"

The mum's reaction to the reading scene, I think, was influenced not only by her protective feelings as a mother, but also by her background in early childhood education - she'll have a good understanding of the psychology involved, whereas many parents may not. The way he handled the reading reminded me of my Dad, who'd make us recite times tables on long car journeys and reach round to pinch our legs if we got fed up and started misbehaving. Cornering isn't an unusual parental tactic to some of us (wry smile).

The mum was also annoyed because he was dividing his attention during the reading lesson, but it did strike me that he might have been put through that style of teaching himself. I really liked her commentary throughout. But OMG the littlest girl was FERAL; I had to babysit a kid like that once and had to resign because it would do things like affix self to fridge and howl when you tried to detach it from fridge to get it to bed.

This was Tom's idea not mine.

We could easily have a TV leader. De Gaulle sort of tried this too, by appealing 'over the heads' of [French equiv. to parliament] 'direct' to the people via the (then v new) mass media. I doubt it's out of the question, since it sure won't be Ken Clarke or David 'who he' Davis.

Ed, no point nudge nudging when you have alrady made the claim up thread. Portillo's lawyers are ready.

this is v.smart indeed: he proved himself leagues more media-savvy (and culturally daring) than any other politician (of any party) currently operating

gUesswork prediction/provocation's: MP's relationship to thatcher may turn out to be like blair's to tony benn: the older politician did the bulk of the work of destroying the old-skool party; the younger politician arrives, realises how much he can now dispense with, dispenses with it AND CLEANS UP

bah we live in interesting times >:(

Pete, since Portillo has already outed his University self, not much of a case there. Friend who is financial journalist and gay boy used to make great sport of going down to Carlton Club with other mates and engaging in flirtatious banter with MP, who very much enjoyed the thrust of his chats with my friend. But never 'bit', as it were, even though friend looks like cross btwn Jude Law and Charlie Sexton with a dash of Adam Ant (as was).

Yeah, look how much esteem Ted Heath is held in.

Difficult to believe he's the same guy who everyone cheered at when he lost his seat. Maybe it was a genuine life changing moment for him, as he's reivented himself as a sensitive, wry champion of liberalism within the party. How much is genuine or not, I don't know, but's it's certainly a convincing act which I suppose in the end is what counts in persuading the electorate. I wonder if he's likely to remain a tory, especially in their parlous state, or perhaps do a David Owen, except drifting leftwards rather than rightwards.

Anyway the big question is whether Diane Abbot is going to cop off with him or not on the Politics show. Short of climbing on top of him I don't see how she could get any closer to him, could be the push needed to convert him to a red-blooded socialist..

*(i am no fan of the late roy jenkins but his bile-filled comments on owen in a recent bbc2 documentary abt the life of woy were TREMENDOUSLY HILARIOUS AND VENOMOUS, not to mention well-deserved...)

**(where my theory falls down: no political equivalent of queen victoria, EXCEPT WAIT!! paging DAVINA McCALL!!)

Re. Portillo drifting into alignment with other parties. Unlike a back-bencher jumping ships he would be regarded as still tainted because he was a Tory cabinet minister.

Wilson was of course a very extremely deft user of modern media in his day

He shd bloody know, the old fraud.

Thought our American chums could use this superb visual aid.

I think you could safely say Portillo seems a nice chap but very easily lead (by older child), and tends to dogmatic (when v's the younger one).

Not good qualities for PM, I would add....

Mark:

I said the reviewer totally missed the point because he was hung up on the idea of the programme as results-based social research. He practically ignores the family, misrepresents their attitudes, and manages to both sentimentalise them ('the honest poor') and insult them ('scally'). As I said above, it was the way they coped with the week that was most interesting to me.

Portillo, you see, is a chastened Thatcherite who has spent the past half-dozen difficult years discovering the world. You know the kind of thing. "And what are these? 'Bus-es'? Super. And this is 'pov-er-tee'? Fascinating. Is there a waiting list?"

Yeah yeah - you get the feeling he'd prefer Thatcherites to stay the way they are, so he doesn't have to treat them as people that might be worth understanding, but can just carry on hating the immutable enemy.

does anyone truly care whether a reformed scourge of the feckless understands reality?

Well since you ask, yes, especially if they might be in power again someday.

i'm lovin' it.

(er...)

I don't suppose anyone would've been mad enough to tape it/keep it this long? I can swap Richard Rorty/Caetano Veloso docs for it.

-- Pete (pb1...), October 16th, 2003 12:21 PM.

Indeed he has!

Where do you reckon he'll go from here? A full-on career sticking the knives into all and sundry on Newsnight? Or will he be squatting in the jungle with Ant and Dec by May?

If you're not, you really should turn on BBC2 now and watch Michael Portillo trying to kill himself.

Great TV, they need to do an occasional series and bring Jeffrey Archer to the verge of death next time

The pro-death penalty guy at the end was an astonishing cunt in the minute of screen time he got

, for some reason