Portillo: Out of the political swing

Portillo: I Will Never be Tory Leader

The former defence secretary, in an interview with The Guardian newspaper, added that he was not even thinking of standing for Parliament until the next general election.

"I regard the leadership thing as closed forever. I got quite close to it, but the moment passed," said Mr Portillo. "I'm out of the political swing for the next four or five years, and generations move on."

He said he favours the "showmanship" of a television career for the next four years, after he presented a BBC 2 documentary last month on a country house.

The right-winger also said he believes the rows over Europe which split the Tories and cost them seats in the last election will be in abeyance for the next three or four years.

Mr Portillo was an unexpected victim of the Labour landslide, losing his seat to Labour's Stephen Twigg in the election. His loss disappointed many on the Tory right, who regarded him as the natural successor to John Major.

Mr Portillo praised the present leader, saying: "William has done a splendid job." He added that William Hague's campaign for the leadership "would have been exactly what I would have done".

Even if he does stand for Parliament, he expects initially to go to the back benches. He said he was not planning for high office again.

Since his unexpected election defeat, Mr Portillo said that apart from his television presenter debut, he has not had any offers and his only other work "between lunch and tea" is advising an oil company.

He said he plans to see what other openings he can find in the business and television worlds, before returning to politics if he cannot find a suitable career anywhere else.