Jeffrey Archer, novelist and former Conservative MP, dies aged 86

Bestselling author and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86, his publisher has said.

Harper Collins said he died “suddenly and peacefully at his home between writing sessions” on Monday.

He spent five years as a Conservative MP prior to serving as the party’s deputy chairman.

He had a successful career as a novelist alongside politics and was made a life peer in 1992 as Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare, becoming the Conservatives’ choice to fight for the party in the first London mayoral election.

But his campaign ended when his political career crashed in 2001 with the disgrace of his being imprisoned for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

An Old Bailey jury ruled he had lied during a libel suit against The Star newspaper 13 years prior, where he had been awarded £500,000 in damages.

Following an early release in 2003, he rejoined the House of Lords until retiring in 2024.

Archer made millions out of his best-selling novels, most notably Kane And Abel, after his first publishing success with Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less in 1976.

Harper Collins said the author had met and signed books for hundreds of fans at a sold-out event with broadcaster Gyles Brandreth at the Leicester Square Theatre in central London on Sunday.

Writing on X, Brandreth said: “Just yesterday I did a show with Jeffrey Archer to celebrate his new novel – he said it was to be his last.

“He was in the most wonderful, ebullient form and had such a great reception from a packed house. He was funny, engaging and self-deprecating – a great storyteller to the last.”

Archer was due to be at the Cheltenham Festival on Saturday to discuss his final novel, Adam and Eve.

He and his wife Dame Mary Archer celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year.

They had two sons and five grandchildren.

Former Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi paid tribute to Archer, writing on X: “Jeffrey Archer was a dear friend and an extraordinary human being. His gift for storytelling was matched by his wit, warmth and boundless energy. Life was never dull in Jeffrey’s company.

“Jeffrey, it was a privilege to call you my friend. You were one of a kind. May you rest in eternal peace.”

Kate Elton, HarperCollins UK chief executive and Archer’s editor, said: “It has been one of the great privileges of my publishing life to have been Jeffrey Archer’s editor.

“He was the master storyteller and an editor’s dream – phenomenally hard-working, utterly committed to completing draft after draft to get every word as perfect as possible, and a true champion of the ‘team’ nature of great publishing.

“When he set out to write Adam And Eve he told me from the very beginning that it would be his final novel – he was so excited about the scale of it and told me that if he could pull it off it would equal anything he’d previously written, on which basis he couldn’t imagine embarking on any future novels.

“He did indeed pull it off – and he was utterly thrilled by the early reader reactions.

“We’re all devastated to have lost a writer who has brought joy to generations of readers – and a true friend.”