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?

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

ECONOMIST: Taxation