Portillo Redivivus

Remember when Michael Portillo was the most hated politician in Britain- and how we all cheered when he lost his parliamentary seat in the great Labour landslide of 1997?

I was watching one of his travel programmes last night. Once upon a time he was the very model of an oily, arrogant Toryboy and now he's smooth and affable- and one of those presenters who seems to be doing what he's doing not simply because it's a paying gig but because he has a passion he wants to share- in his case for railways and European history. I enjoy his company- and  really, really dig his wardrobe; he loves colour- and so do I. Last night he was climbing around the docks in Constanza dressed in a custard coloured jacket and strawberry coloured trousers.