Jeffrey Archer, Novelist and Convicted Perjurer, Dies at 86

Jeffrey Archer, the renowned British author and ex-Conservative politician, passed away at the age of 86. He was born Jeffrey Howard Archer on April 15, 1940, in north London, but relocated to Weston-super-Mare shortly thereafter. His mother, Lola, was a pioneering journalist at the Weston Mercury, while his father, William, had a history of fraud. Archer attended Wellington School, earning three O-levels, and briefly worked with the Metropolitan Police. He excelled in athletics at Oxford and married Mary Weeden. Archer entered Parliament after winning the Louth by-election in 1969 but resigned in 1974 due to a failed investment in Canada. He published his debut novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, in 1976, followed by Kane and Abel (1979) and First Among Equals (1984). In 1985, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party by Margaret Thatcher. He won a £500,000 libel case against the Daily Star in 1987 related to Monica Coghlan. John Major granted him a peerage in 1992. Although he was chosen as the Conservative candidate for mayor in 1999, he stepped down after perjury allegations from Ted Francis. In 2001, Archer was found guilty of perjury and obstructing justice, receiving a four-year sentence, during which he penned My Prison Diary. He remained a member of the House of Lords until 2024 and continued to write novels into his mid-80s, with his last book, Adam and Eve, set to be released soon.