Books by Tessa Jowell and Jesse Norman have taken the top honours at this year’s Parliamentary Book Awards.

The late Dame Tessa and Frances D’Souza won Best Memoir by a Parliamentarian for The Power of Politicians. Also shortlisted for best memoir were works by Alan Johnson, Nick de Bois and Austin Mitchell.

It comes after Dame Tessa died this year aged 70, having been diagnosed with brain cancer in May last year. She served as culture secretary under Tony Blair and was known as an unfailing cheerleader for his leadership of New Labour. In his own memoirs, Blair describes Jowell as “the ultimate sensible loyalist”.

Meanwhile Norman took home the Best Non-Fiction by a Parliamentarian award for his book Adam Smith: What He Thought and Why it Matters. The Conservative MP, who is known as one of his party's top intellectual theorists, saw off Jo Swinson, Helena Kennedy and Ruth Davidson. Best Political Book by a Non-Parliamentarian was won by Isabel Hardman.

The annual awards champion the best of political writing and celebrate the link between politics and publishing. The shortlist was voted for by UK bookshops, with parliamentarians then voting for the winner in each category.

The awards ceremony was held at the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, hosted by Labour's Dame Margaret Hodge and presented by Daily Mirror political editor Pippa Crerar.

Publishers Association chief executive Stephen Lotinga said: “At a time when the public’s appetite for political writing is at an all-time high, all three of this year’s winners offer crucial insights into the makeup of Britain’s political class and culture.

"From Jesse Norman’s recharacterisation of the relevance of Adam Smith’s philosophy, to Tessa Jowell’s reflections on lessons learnt from a lifetime in politics, through to Isabel Hardman’s insights into modern politicians, each of these winning books provide many lessons for the challenges we currently face.”