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Jeffrey Archer

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The Right Honourable

The Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare
Archer in 2024
Member of the House of Lords
Life peerage
27 July 1992 – 4 July 2024
Member of Parliament
for Louth (Lincolnshire)
In office
4 December 1969 – 20 September 1974
Preceded byCyril Osborne
Succeeded byMichael Brotherton
Personal details
Born
Jeffrey Howard Archer

(1940-04-15)15 April 1940
London, England
Died5 October 2026(2026-10-05) (aged 86)
London, England
Political partyNon-affiliated (from 2001)
Spouse(s)
Mary Weeden
​
(m. 1966)​
Children2
OccupationPolitician, author
Websitejeffreyarcher.com
Writing career
OccupationNovelist, short story writer, playwright
Period1976–2026
GenreThriller, drama

Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (15 April 1940 – 5 October 2026) was a British author and politician. He was a member of Parliament, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and was a life peer from 1992 until his death. His political career ended after an indictment for perjury. He was married to Mary Archer, a prominent scientist in solar power.

Biography

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Early life

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Jeffrey Howard Archer was born in the City of London Maternity Hospital. When he was two weeks old he and his family moved to the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, where he spent most of his young life.

At Oxford he was successful in athletics, competing in sprinting and hurdling. He also made a name for himself in raising money for the then little-known charity Oxfam, famously claiming to have obtained the support of The Beatles in a charity fundraising drive (it was actually Pat Davidson of Oxfam). The band accepted the invitation to visit the Senior Common Room of his Brasenose College, where they were photographed with Archer and dons of the college, although they did not play there. It was during this period that he met his future wife, Mary. His parents were John and Mary Archer who gave birth to him in 1940. Jeffery Archer only had one sibling and that was his brother, Thomas Archer who is a renowned politician for the conservative party.

At the age of 29, he was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for a Lincolnshire constituency, holding the seat for the Conservative Party in a by-election on 4 December 1969.

In Parliament, Archer was on the left of the Conservative Party, rebelling against some of his party's policies. He urged free TV licences for the elderly and was against museum charges. Archer voted against restoring the death penalty saying it was barbaric and obscene.

Archer had to resign because of a scandal in October 1986 when the Sunday newspaper The News of the World led on the story "Tory boss Archer pays vice-girl". The article claimed that Archer had paid Monica Coghlan, a prostitute, £2000 through another person at Waterloo Station to go abroad. Unlike the Daily Star, the newspaper did not allege that Archer had actually slept with Coghlan.[1] Archer sued the Daily Star.

Perjury and downfall

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Archer had been selected by the Conservative Party as their candidate for the London mayoral election of 2000. He was forced to withdraw from the race when it was revealed that he was facing a charge of perjury.

On 4 February 2000, Archer was expelled from the Conservative Party for five years. On 26 September 2000, he was charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice (obstruction of justice) during the 1987 libel trial.

A few months before the beginning of the perjury trial, Archer began performing in the star role in a courtroom play (which he also wrote) called The Accused. The play was staged at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket and concerns the court trial of an alleged murderer from beginning to end. The play used the innovation of assigning the role of jury in the trial to the audience, with theatre-goers voting on whether Archer's character was innocent or guilty at the end of each night's performance. Archer would attend his real trial during the day and be judged in his fictional trial at the theatre in the evening.

The real life trial began on 30 May 2001. On 19 July 2001, Lord Archer was found guilty of perjury. He was sentenced to a total of four years' imprisonment by Mr. Justice Potts. The most ironic aspect of his trial was that he had fabricated the alibi for the wrong date. Archer never spoke during the trial. Ted Francis was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice.

On 21 July 2003, he was released on licence, after serving half of his sentence, from HMP Hollesley Bay, Suffolk.

Archer retired from the House of Lords in 2024.

Death

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Archer died at his home in London, England on 5 October 2026 at the age of 86.[2][3]

Bibliography

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References

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  1. ↑ Caroline Davies "He lied his way to the top",[permanent dead link] Daily Telegraph. 20 July 2001 [website p8]. Retrieved on 20 April 2007.
  2. ↑ "Jeffrey Archer: Best-selling author and former politician dies aged 86". BBC News. 2026-10-05. Retrieved 2026-10-05.
  3. ↑ Sanderson, David (5 October 2026). "Jeffrey Archer, novelist and Conservative politician, dies aged 86". The Times. London.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Further reading

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Other websites

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Preceded by
Sir Cyril Osborne		 Member of Parliament for Louth
1969–1974		 Succeeded by
Michael Brotherton
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