A survey of MPs’ summer reading habits has revealed that the Conservatives are swotting up on Gordon Brown, while Labour politicians are questioning the existence of God.

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister, a biography by Tom Bower, is a popular choice for Tories, while The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and Alastair Campbell’s The Blair Years are proving to be must-reads for Labour MPs. Lib Dem politicians have preferred to opt for J. K. Rowling’s latest, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The information comes from a survey of 180 MPs by Waterstone’s. William Hague, the former Tory leader, will be flattered to learn that William Wilberforce, his biography of the anti-slavery campaigner, is the most popular all-party choice.

And the most popular author proved to be the former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown, with three titles selected by MPs (The Ashdown Diaries, Contemporary Conflict Resolution and Swords and Ploughshares: Building Peace in the 21st Century).

Other choices include literary classics (Don Quixote, Pride and Prejudice, Vanity Fair), the environment (Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth) and Islamic fundamentalism (The Islamist by Ed Husain and The War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy by Walid Phares).

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