Political books: why politicians and MPs write essays

17 September 2012 Last updated at 06:40 ET Help

MPs and those aiming for political office write plenty of books that hardly anyone will ever read, hoping their ideas might change politics but knowing they will never top the bestseller lists.

Adam Fleming spoke to the political publisher and broadcaster Iain Dale, and Peter Riddell from the Institute for Government, to find out why these books are written.

And he looked back at books written by some of today's leading MPs - before they became household names.

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