Michael Portillo speaks to the Express & Star on US election mudslinging and Enoch Powell on visit to Wolverhampton

The 63-year-old, who spoke to a Wolverhampton audience this week about his career in politics and television in his show A Game of Two Halves, has been in the US for most of the summer, filming his latest series, Great American Railroad Journeys.

The ex-Conservative MP believes that next week's result is too close to call, but felt a real sense of negativity towards Clinton during his time in the States.

He said: "I have a preference for Hillary, but I must say I spent most of the summer in the US filming for the new series, and it's difficult to explain quite how unpopular she really is over there.

"I would favour her over Trump. It's a huge decision for America, because it's not just a president they are voting for, it's a head of state.

"I went to see some friends of mine in North Carolina when I was over, and they said they didn't think Trump was presidential material at first, but now they feel he might be.

"I prefer Hillary because I don't think there is quite as much wrong with her as there is with Trump, but it is a difficult choice for America. I really don't think I could call which way it will go. The number of surprises there has been in politics recently has been unprecedented. "We have lived through a period in time that will go down in history."

After rising through the Conservative ranks working alongside then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Mr Portillo soon found himself hitting the headlines. The loss of a safe seat in parliament in 1997 coined the popular phrase 'doing a Portillo', which he eloquently describes as 'eating a bucketload of s*** in public'. Then in 2001 came an attempt to win the Tory leadership, which many believe was thwarted by public slurs about his private life.

MORE: Catch up with the show here

But after a 21-year career in government politics, Hertfordshire-born Mr Portillo developed a thick skin. He joked: "If any of you don't know who I am, I'm a 'former future Prime Minister'. We've actually started a club, and Boris Johnson is our newest member!"

Mr Portillo still takes an active interest in politics both abroad and at home, and admits both apprehension and excitement at what lies ahead for Britain after the Brexit vote.

He said: "I am quite nervous about the future, but what excites me most about it is that we will be able to take powers back into our own hands.

"In my opinion the Euro currency has been a disaster, it has been immensely destructive. It has left 50 per cent of young people in Spain unemployed and completely destroyed the economy in Greece. And many have argued that our people won't have the freedom of movement. If you look at countries like Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Poland, these countries cannot cope because all their young people are leaving to come here. I think it was irresponsible of David Cameron to call for a referendum on it when there was really no pressure to do so.

"I voted to leave Europe, but I didn't want there to be a referendum. Hopefully we will be able to strike new trade deals with different countries in the future and it will be beneficial in the long run."

Mr Portillo, dressed in a typically flamboyant fluorescent blue blazer, was bursting at the seams to share tales of his life and two careers.

He told how his father, a Spanish university lecturer who struggled to fully grasp English when he fled to Britain during his home nation's civil war, was captivated by reading translated versions of speeches made by controversial Wolverhampton MP Enoch Powell.

He said: "He was a poet and a master of the Spanish language but, when he came here, he couldn't master English in the same way and that was a great frustration to him. He may not have agreed with all the content, but Powell had such a poetic way with how he wrote his speeches. His language was beautifully chosen."

On his time working under Thatcher, whom he began his political career alongside working as an advisor, he said: "I used to prepare a dossier for her each morning on all the negative things that had been in the news and present it to her at 7.30am before her press conferences, to try and make sure she wasn't caught out by anything that she was asked. I always did my research before going into a meeting with her, but sometimes she would ask you something totally out of the left field, and when you couldn't answer it, she would lose her temper. For a 25-year-old it could be quite terrifying, but she was an inspiration in the way that she was determined in which way she wanted to lead the country."

Lady Thatcher wasn't the only powerful woman whose feathers he has ruffled in his time. He found himself on the front pages for 'infuriating the Queen' after holding a loud party in his flat while a military parade was taking place outside.

He said: "There was a parade going on in the street with marching bands and people wearing their military refinery. I had a party going on in my flat with all sorts of wonderful people, judges barristers and the like.

"We thought because there was a marching band that no-one would hear us. But it was all over the headlines the next day 'Portillo infuriates Queen'. I was rather sheepish when I went into the cabinet meeting the next day."

In 1997, Mr Portillo was one of several high-profile Tories to end up with egg on his face after losing a supposedly safe seat. He said: "I had seen David Mellor and Jimmy Goldsmith have a rather ugly exchange after the Putney result was announced. I knew that it was likely that I could lose so I said to myself that I had to take defeat with dignity. So I was interviewed on television and congratulated my Labour rival and said that it was a terrible night for the Conservatives."

Among his proudest achievements in politics was to save the Carlisle to Settle railway line when he was Secretary of Defence, and after leaving politics in 2005, he decided to concentrate on his media career, which has seen him present several programmes including seven series' of Great British Railway Journeys.

But if things had gone his way in 2001, and he had won the Tory leadership, could he have gone on to be successful Prime Minister?

He said: "In some way I think I would have done. I was a very disciplined minister and I believed in making decisions and making the most of time.

"But on the other hand, I don't think I'd have had the nerve to do the job. I think I would have felt under great stress. When I found out that I was out of the running for the leadership I was distinctly relieved."