Off topic, and purely my view which anyone is entitled to disagree with as they wish.

Most of you will remember a moment that entered folklore as 'Were you up for Portillo?', referring to the live broadcast of the election night results and the way it was clearly a huge shock to Michael Portillo when he lost his seat. It seems to me that it was an even bigger shock to him to find himself as the figurehead of derision and anger that encapsulated the rejection of the whole party. And that he was unusually self aware and thoughtful enough to take that away and reflect on whether was he actually as awful as the population seemed to think, and if so what could he do about it. I think he did genuinely accept that just being self confident was not enough and was determined to work to be 'a better person' (however that may be interpreted.)

In short, I have a lot more respect for him now than I had before. So, no, it is not 'a lefty thing' - it is a thinking person thing.