It was ironic that a politician who served under two women and two male Tory Prime Ministers - should see his career ruined by his alleged behaviour towards women.

Few cabinet ministers can claim to have served under four Tory Prime Ministers  - but that's exactly what Sir Michael Fallon achieved in a remarkable career until it ended with his resignation on Wednesday night.

He served under Margaret Thatcher, John Major - before the Tories got back into power, under David Cameron from 2010 and stayed on, as Defence Secretary, under successor Theresa May.

Sir Michael, 65, was born in Perth in May 1952.

His father Dr Martin Fallon OBE was a noted surgeon in the Fair City.

As a child he was educated privately at Craigflower Preparatory School near Dunfermline and Epsom College in Surrey.

Sir Michael then attended the University of St Andrews where he was an active in student politics and campaigned for the Keep Britain in Europe campaign in the 1975 referendum.

He was elected as the Conservative MP for Darlington in 1983, at the age of 29 and held the seat until 1992 when he lost the seat to Labour’s Alan Milburn.

During this time, he rose through the ranks of the Conservative party and was appointed by Margaret Thatcher as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Education and Science in July 1990 – just months before she was ousted as Prime Minister.

Sir Michael , alongside Michael Portillo and Michael Forsyth, visited Mrs Thatcher on the eve of her resignation in a last-ditch attempt to persuade her to reconsider quitting.

While he was outside Parliament between 1992 and 1997, he set up a chain of children’s nurseries with funding from Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne. He re-entered Parliament in 1997 after winning Sevenoaks and was promoted to Cabinet in 2014 as Defence Secretary. He was knighted by David Cameron in his resignation honours list in 2016 by David Cameron.