Since his apparent conversion to more socially liberal policies, Mr Portillo is also a bit of an unknown quantity and has yet to map out any detailed policies.

BBC: By Nick Assinder

If that apparent conversion lasts (and it is notable that Congress's brief enthusiasm for gun-control laws evaporated overnight), it is likely to alarm Virginia's politically powerful gun lobby.

ECONOMIST: Politics in Virginia

Those who criticise Portillo's apparent "conversion" evidently know very little about his diverse background as a son of an anti-Fascist Spanish socialist and a teenage Labour party supporter.

BBC: Portillo: The right person for the Tories?

Given the past, aggressive hostility of big pension fund systems like the California Public Employee System (CalPERS) and Illinois State Teachers Retirement System (ISTRS) to the idea that their funds could be used as leverage to help defeat our terrorist foes, the question occurs: Is their new coalition's apparent "conversion" the welcome development it would appear to be?

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Divest Terror breakthrough? Or a bait-and switch?

Some Whitehall observers believe that the Treasury's apparent change of heart owes more to political opportunism than genuine conversion.

ECONOMIST: Taxation