Member of Parliament Chris Smith is heading up this year’s Book Prize jury, and he says he has no preconceptions about what the winner should demonstrate. “Cynics might argue that this absence of preconceptions is merely a spin on an absence of knowledge. After all, how much time does your average MP have to keep up with even a fraction of the 10,000 or so novels published each year? What sort of books does he have on his bedside table?”