First Among Equals (novel)

This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "First Among Equals" novel – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2022)

First Among Equals

First edition (UK)
Author	Jeffrey Archer
Language	English
Genre	Political novel
Publisher	Hodder & Stoughton (UK) Simon & Schuster (US)
Publication date	1984
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print
Pages	446 pp
ISBN	0-340-35266-3
OCLC	10607270
Dewey Decimal	823/.914 19
LC Class	PR6051.R285 F5 1984

First Among Equals is a 1984 novel by British author Jeffrey Archer,^[1] which follows the careers and personal lives of four fictional British politicians (Simon Kerslake, MP for Coventry Central and later Pucklebridge; Charles Seymour, MP for Sussex Downs; Raymond Gould, MP for Leeds North; and Andrew Fraser, MP for Edinburgh Carlton) from 1964 to 1991, with each vying to become Prime Minister. Several situations in the novel are drawn from Archer's own early political career in the British House of Commons, and the fictional characters interact with actual political figures from the UK and elsewhere including Winston Churchill, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher, Douglas Hurd, Muammar al-Gaddafi, Gary Hart and Queen Elizabeth II.

The title is a literal translation of the Latin term Primus inter pares, a term used to refer to either the most senior member of a group of equals (peers) or to refer to someone who claims to be just one member of a group of equals when in reality he or she completely dominates said group. This phrase is used to describe the official constitutional status of the British Prime Minister within the Cabinet.