Brexit may have divided the UK, but Nick Clegg’s call to arms against the break with Europe has united MPs and members of the House of Lords, who have voted it the best non-fiction book by a parliamentarian this year. It emerged the winner at the 2017 Parliamentary book awards from a shortlist dominated by titles addressing populist discontent and protest.

In How to Stop Brexit (And Make Britain Great Again), the former deputy prime minister debunks myths about Europe, which he claims were used to persuade the public to support the UK’s departure from the EU. Describing the vote as a “historic mistake”, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats explains how Brexit could be reversed.

In a rare parliamentary victory for the remain side, Clegg’s book snatched victory by a narrow margin, according to Alan Staton, head of marketing at the Booksellers Association, which runs the prize with the Publishers Association. MPs and members of the Lords vote for shortlists drawn up by bookshops.

“This is what happens when you have a secret ballot,” Staton said of Clegg’s win. Shortlisted against him was War and the Death of News by former Tatton MP and broadcaster Martin Bell and Richard III by Cabinet Office minister Chris Skidmore.

The coalition co-leader was one of three winners in the awards, which were presented on Tuesday night in a ceremony at the Houses of Parliament. As well as best fiction and memoir by parliamentarians, the best political book by a non-parliamentarian was also awarded. This year, that prize was taken by Brendan Cox for Jo Cox: More in Common, an impassioned portrait of his wife, who was murdered during the run-up to the referendum last summer.



Harriet Harman’s autobiography A Woman’s Work took the prize for the best memoir by a parliamentarian. Britain’s longest-serving female MP reveals a successful career forged in spite of the sexism of a political system in which men used to hold almost all the power - even with a woman (Margaret Thatcher) in No 10.

It, too, was up against strong competition, including fellow Labour MP Jess Phillips’s Everywoman, which charted the journeys made by women at the heart of government over the past 40 years.

Staton said all three winners reflected the zeitgeist. “They are extraordinarily topical,” he said. “They have become even more so in the last two or three weeks, as Brexit has been in the news and Brendan Cox responded to Donald Trump posting Britain First videos on Twitter.” Jo Cox’s killer, 52-year old Nazi sympathiser Thomas Mair, shouted “Britain first” as he murdered the MP.

The strong thematic link to current affairs in the titles up for the awards marked a step change from the inaugural winners of the prize, which launched last year. The vote then was dominated by more traditional political biographies, including Margaret Hodge’s Called to Account and Citizen Clem by John Bew.

Stephen Lotinga, chief executive of the Publishers Association, said: “All three winning titles make vital contributions to our thinking on important political issues, whether this is on the position of women in politics, by helping us come to terms with the tragic death of Jo Cox MP or by weighing into the divisive issue of our decision to leave the EU.”