Portillo to quit as MP

Michael Portillo has announced that he will stand down as an MP at the next general election.

The Kensington and Chelsea MP and former Defence Secretary said he had been offered a Shadow Cabinet job by new Tory leader Michael Howard, but had rejected the offer.

Mr Portillo said: "I have been considering my future for some time and I have decided that it should lie outside the House of Commons." 

He added: "In a number of ways I have lost my enthusiasm for the cut-and-thrust of the Chamber and my contribution to it has diminished.

"I do not know what I shall do after I leave, but I am keen to explore opportunities in the media, public bodies and the arts."

Mr Portillo said his decision was not meant as a snub to the new leader.

"I have been thinking about this for a long time," he said.

"I have lost my enthusiasm for the cut and thrust of politics. Michael Howard offered me a job in the shadow cabinet, he tried to persuade me to stay, but I would not change my mind."

Mr Portillo declined to say what post Mr Howard had offered him.

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