Trussites inspire their peers in parliament

So. Farewell Then. Nadine Dorries. The departure of the bestselling author from parliament got Mr S wondering just which books her colleagues have been reading this past year. Fortunately, the Commons Library publishes a list of all works purchased and borrowed, allowing us to discover just what is on our honourable members’ minds…

The latest list, covering the period up from October 2022 to March this year, tells us that £638 worth of new books purchased include scholarly insights on US-China relations, treatises on diplomacy and leadership, practical paths to Korean reunification, memoirs on American policing, genetic studies on inequality and a history of the debate on climate change. The diaries of Chips Channon now adorn the library walls, as does the distinctly less stimulating ‘Secret Diary of a Tory MP’.

Which of these tempted MPs in the same period? None it seems. Instead, bookish members fattened their eyes on David Cameron’s biography, For the Record (borrowed twice), Hannah White’s book on What is Wrong with the Commons, Jeremy Hunt’s post-pandemic NHS screed, and Sebastian Payne’s Fall of Boris Johnson.