Michael Portillo to talk about his life at Wolverhampton's Wulfrun Hall
For a while, he was Britain's most unpopular politican.
Michael Portillo symbolised the downfall of the Tory Party from the late-70s to mid-90s as the British public turned off Conservative policies and turned on to Tony Blair.
And yet that unpopularity, which crystallised when he lost his safe Enfield Southgate seat at the 1997 General Election, has long been forgotten.
These days, Portillo is one of Britain's favourite TV presenters. He's made scores of programmes about trains, culture and history and is grateful for his second career.
He'll talk about his life at Wolverhampton's Wulfrun Hall on Monday in his spoken word show: Life – A Game Of Two Halves.
Michael's railways programmes have been a remarkable success. The first series was broadcast on BBC Two in 2010 and has been followed by further series and spin-offs. He has travelled the length and breadth of the country; from Liverpool to Eccles, from Todmorden to York, from Ledbury to Shrewsbury and from Southampton to Wolverhampton.
"I've been surprised by how much people have enjoyed them," he says.
"When we made the first series, we hoped we'd be recommissioned and asked to do a second series. But we've done eight."
