The best political books of the year were unveiled at the Parliamentary Book Awards this week at the Houses of Parliament.
Jesse Norman’s The Winding Stair, Lord Daniel Finkelstein OBE’s Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival and Matt Chorley’s Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors: 50 Places That Changed British Politics were among the winners.
The runners-up of the awards – which are curated by bookshops and voted for by parliamentarians – include politicians, journalists and writers such as Rory Stewart OBE, Chris Bryant MP, Wes Streeting MP, Dawn Butler MP, Alastair Campbell, Philippa Gregory CBE, Polly Toynbee and Robert Peston & Kishan Koria.
Conservative MP Jesse Norman received Best Non-Fiction/Fiction by a Parliamentarian for The Winding Stair, a novel that tells the story of two founders from our modern world and their battle for power, pre-eminence and the hand of the most eligible women in the realm.
Journalist and politician Lord Daniel Finkelstein OBE won Best Memoir/Autobiography by a Parliamentarian for Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival, which explores both his mother and his father’s devastating experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during the Second World War.
Times Radio broadcaster and journalist Matt Chorley won Best Political Book by a Non-Parliamentarian for Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors: 50 Places That Changed British Politics, which shares insider knowledge, smart analysis and detailed research to show how politics actually happens.
This year’s winners were selected from a shortlist featuring books from academic and former politician Rory Stewart OBE, former Anglican priest and Shadow Minister for the Creative Industries and Digital Chris Bryant MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting MP, Labour Party Member of Parliament for Brent Central Dawn Butler MP, spokesman for Tony Blair and New Labour Alastair Campbell, historical novelist Philippa Gregory CBE, journalist and social democrat Polly Toynbee, political editor of ITV news Robert Peston and journalist Kishan Koria.
Meryl Halls, Managing Director of the Booksellers Association, said: “We’re delighted to see such a phenomenal range of books winning these prestigious awards. Topics covered by the winning titles include the battle for power, personal experiences during the Second World War, and insider knowledge about how politics actually happens. Big congratulations to both the winning and the shortlisted writers for their insightful and exceptional books.”
Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, said: “Congratulations to this year’s well-deserved winners. These books show the extent of the quality political writing we have here in the UK – a genre which will only become more pertinent as we settle into an election year. We were delighted to welcome parliamentarians, authors, publishers, and booksellers to the Houses of Parliament to celebrate these important works and the longstanding link between publishing and politics”.
Now in their eighth year, the Parliamentary Book Awards were established by the Booksellers Association and the Publishers Association to champion the best political writing in the UK and to recognise the important link between the worlds of politics and publishing. The only political book awards curated by bookshops and voted for by parliamentarians, previous winners have included Sebastian Payne, Baroness Floella Benjamin, Michael Ashcroft, Mark Carney, Penny Mordaunt MP, Andrew Mitchell MP, Harriet Harman MP, Nick Clegg, Baroness Jowell, Iain Dale, and James O’Brien.
The award ceremony was held at the Houses of Parliament and featured speeches from BA President Hazel Broadfoot, PA President Antonia Seymour and Dame Margaret Hodge MP, who sponsored the awards.
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