British bestselling novelist Jeffrey Archer, whose political career was ruined by a conviction for perjury, has died at the age of 86.
Archer died “suddenly and peacefully” at his home on Monday, a day before the worldwide release of his final novel, Adam and Eve, publisher HarperCollins said.
Like his bestselling novel Kane and Abel, the new book follows two characters named after biblical figures who are born on the same day but grow up in different social classes.
Archer enjoyed a decades-long career as a successful author while facing repeated political and personal controversies. He continued writing through a prison sentence and later returned to the political arena.
His literary career spanned five decades and helped him recover from financial difficulties caused by unsuccessful investments. His debut novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, was published in 1976 and was reportedly inspired by his own experience of coming close to bankruptcy.
According to HarperCollins, Archer spent 14 years and five months on Britain's Sunday Times bestseller lists and more than five years on The New York Times bestseller lists. His books sold 300 million copies worldwide.
Archer rose through the ranks of Britain's Conservative Party under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In 1992, he was appointed to the House of Lords by her successor, Prime Minister John Major.
However, his political career collapsed after allegations emerged that he had lied under oath during a libel case more than a decade earlier. The allegations surfaced in 1999 while he was running for mayor of London.
Archer had sued a newspaper that accused him of paying a sex worker and won £500,000 in damages. A jury later found that he had fabricated an alibi during the 1987 case against the Daily Star.
He was convicted of perjury and jailed for four years in 2001, after being expelled from the Conservative Party. He was released early in 2003 after serving slightly more than two years.
Despite his conviction, Archer retained his seat in the House of Lords as there was no legal mechanism at the time to remove him. He continued as a politically unaffiliated member until retiring in 2024.
Archer later documented his prison experiences in a three-volume memoir series titled A Prison Diary. The books, Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, offered insights into life inside British prisons, including the high-security HMP Belmarsh and the open prison North Sea Camp.
Before his imprisonment, Archer had also campaigned to change royal succession laws to give daughters equal rights with sons. His efforts later helped inspire the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which ended the centuries-old practice of giving younger sons precedence over their older sisters in the line of succession.
Gender inequality and social differences also featured in his literary work.
His final novel, Adam and Eve, tells the story of an earl's daughter, whose father wanted a son to inherit his estate, and a shepherd's son, whose father wanted a daughter because he feared a son would be sent to war.
Describing the book as a love story and a reflection on social class set against the backdrop of war, Archer said Adam and Eve had been “the most satisfying thing I have ever written.”
Archer is survived by his wife of 60 years, Dame Mary Archer, their two sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons, HarperCollins said.