Portillo to Balls – “Ed: prepare two speeches”

At the Guardian’s CommentisFree, Michael Portillo reflects on the prospect of another cabinet minister losing his seat

In the last two weeks my name has been in headlines for the first time in years. Will a cabinet minister suffer the humiliation of losing his seat in the full glare of national publicity, as I did in 1997? Will he (oh please, please yes!) endure “a Portillo moment“? My name is now synonymous with eating a bucketload of shit in public. I am on the brink of becoming a noun and so passing into history, alongside Captain Boycott and the Hooligan family.

When I am asked whether anyone at today’s election is likely to suffer the same ignominy, I say, “Balls to that”, and for good reason.

Read the whole thing.

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