Prof Tim Bale (right) receives a prestigious PSA book prize from journalist Dominic Lawson (middle) at an awards ceremony compered by broadcaster Jon Snow (left).

A politics professor was in Westminster (where else?) last night (Tuesday 29 November) to receive a major book prize for his study of the modern Conservative Party.

Journalist Dominic Lawson presented Professor Tim Bale with the W.J.M. Mackenzie Book Prize for the year's best book in political science at the annual awards dinner of the Political Studies Association (PSA).

"Tim Bale has composed a thoughtful, perceptive and exhaustively researched study," said the prize judges. "An enjoyable, well-written and substantial contribution to the study of political parties" is how they described Professor Bale's book, The Conservative Party from Thatcher to Cameron.

"It covers all aspects of the Conservative party - organisation, policy, ideology, and political strategy - in a finely researched and meticulous way."

This assessment of the book was shared by former Cabinet Minister, Baroness (Gillian) Shephard, one of many senior Tory politicians who have published glowing reviews.

She wrote: "Tim Bale has succeeded in combining an accurate overview of the Conservative Party's history from Thatcher to Cameron with a wealth of intimate detail. The combination makes the book a riveting read, and a must for all devotees of modern politics."

Another former Conservative Minister, Edwina Currie, was similarly glowing in her review in The Times, describing it as "a simply brilliant book" and declaring, "His judgments are spot-on."

This is an aspect of the book that was also picked up the PSA judges, who said: "Full of shrewd and astute judgments, it offers a mine of factual information and will for years be an indispensable source of understanding of the contemporary Conservative party."

Another thing that impressed them was Professor Bale's source material: "He has managed to secure a remarkable degree of access to key figures within the Conservative party and has obtained a formidable amount of primary material (often quite candid and on-the-record)."

Most importantly, perhaps, the book is "thoroughly readable", as former Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd put it. The PSA judges agreed: "This book is written in a fluent, highly accessible and often witty style and demonstrates impressive narrative skills.

"It makes a major contribution to our understanding of the Conservative party and hence of modern British politics," they concluded.

The PSA awards event, which marked the achievements of politicians, academics and journalists, was compered by Jon Snow from 'Channel 4 News' and will be televised on BBC Parliament at 9pm on Saturday (3 December) and repeated at 10.30am on Monday (5 December).