The Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare | |
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![]() Archer in 2012 | |
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
In office 27 July 1992 – 4 July 2024 Life peerage | |
Member of Parliament for Louth (Lincolnshire) | |
In office 4 December 1969 – 20 September 1974 | |
Preceded by | Cyril Osborne |
Succeeded by | Michael Brotherton |
Personal details | |
Born | Jeffrey Howard Archer 15 April 1940 (age 84) London, England |
Political party | Non-affiliated (since 2001) |
Other political affiliations | Conservative (prior to 2001) |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Residence(s) | London, England |
Occupation | Politician, author |
Website | www |
Writing career | |
Occupation | Novelist, short story writer, playwright |
Period | 1976–present |
Genre | Thriller, drama |
Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940)[1] is an English novelist and former politician.[2] He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth (Lincolnshire) from 1969 to 1974, but did not seek re-election after a financial scandal that left him almost bankrupt.[3]
Archer revived his fortunes as a novelist. His novel Kane and Abel (1979) remains one of the best-selling books in the world, with an estimated 34 million copies sold worldwide.[4][5] Overall his books have sold more than 320 million copies worldwide.[6]
Archer was the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party from 1985 to 1986; he resigned after a newspaper accused him of paying money to a prostitute. In 1987 he won a civil case and was awarded large damages because of this claim.[7] He was made a life peer in 1992 and subsequently became the Conservative candidate to be the first elected mayor of London. He ended his candidacy in 1999 after it emerged that he had lied in the case in 1987. In 2001 he was sentenced to four years of imprisonment for perjury and perverting the course of justice, ending his active political career. He was released early in 2003.[6]