It took Michael Portillo 10 years to get a seat in the House of Commons. He then rose in power and esteem to a point where he was a favoured leader of the Tory party and possible future Prime Minister.

But the political dream came crashing down in 1997 after serving 13 years as MP he was dramatically voted out as New Labour won the election by a substantial majority in what was to be defined as the ‘Portillo moment’.

A term subsequently used as a metaphor for a sudden and significant change in political fortunes – particularly when a leading MP has been unseated at a General Election.

In 2003 he began the weekly political discussion programme This Week on BBC1 with fellow presenters Andrew Neil and Diane Abbott MP and as a self-proclaimed historian he has made 100 programmes in the series Great British Railway Journeys and Great Continental Railway Journeys for BBC2.

Tapping into these rich seams of two different careers sets hopes high for an amusing and informative night out as ­Portillo brings his one-man show to the ­Babbacombe Theatre, tomorrow, entitled Michael Portillo – Life: A game of two halves.­