Portillo, Michael ( Denzil Xavier ). Portillo, Michael ( Denzil Xavier ) ( 1953 - ). British Conservative politician, defense secretary from July 1995. Representative of the right wing of the party in John Major ? s government, his progress up the ministerial ladder was swift, leading some admirers to regard him as Major ? s eventual successor. He is an avowed ? Thatcherite ? , convinced of the supremacy of the market and suspicious of the encroaching powers of the European Union ( European Union ). . After a short spell in industry, Portillo joined the research department at Conservative Central Office where his role as adviser to several government ministers give him an appetite for active politics. He entered the Commons 1984 in the London Southgate by-election. His appointment as employment secretary 1994 made him directly responsible for United Kingdom policy on the controversial European Union social chapter, the b ? te noire of right-wing Tories. .
Background
Portillo, Michael ( Denzil Xavier ). Pronunciation: paw ( r ) tiloh. DT1 1953. British Conservative statesman.