MPs spend summer reading about themselves, survey finds
By Adam Bienkov
MPs spent their summer reading books written by and about themselves, a new survey has revealed.
Pollsters Comres found that most MPs stuck closely to party lines when choosing what to read on the beach.
Charles Moore's "exhaustive and exhausting" biography of Margaret Thatcher was the most widely read book by Tory MPs.
Former home secretary Alan Johnson's gritty autobiography This Boy topped the list among Labour MPs.
Five days in May, an account of the 2010 coalition negotiations by Lord Adonis came third among all MPs, while a biography of Edmund Burke by Tory MP Jesse Norman came fourth.
Liberal Democrat MPs had a slightly more eclectic reading list with What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? by environmental campaigner Tony Juniper a popular choice.
Modernity Britain, an historical account of the late fifties by David Kynaston, was also widely read by MPs.
Other responses given to the survey included "anything by Lee Child, Susan Hill or Bernard Cornwell" and New Statesman back copies – Haven't had enough time to read them for a few months.”
MPs' reading habits appear to have grown far more earnest in the past year.
A similar survey last year found that erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey was the second most popular summer read among parliamentarians.
The top ten:
1. Margaret Thatcher – Charles Moore
2. This Boy – Alan Johnson
3. Five Days In May – Andrew Adonis
4. Edmund Burke – Jesse Norman
5. Modernity Britain: Opening The Box – David Kynaston.
6. Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
7. Last Man Standing – Jack Straw
8. The Burning Question – Mike Berners-Lee and Duncan Clarke
9. What Has Nature Ever Done For Us – Tony Juniper
10. Spanish Holocaust – Paul Preston
