Novelist and former politician Jeffrey Archer dies at 86

Jeffrey Archer, the British novelist and former Conservative politician, has died at 86, his publisher HarperCollins said on Monday. The publisher described his death as sudden and peaceful at his home, between writing sessions. The reports did not provide a cause of death or separate confirmation of the circumstances. Archer was a Conservative member of Parliament for five years before becoming the party’s deputy chairman. He also built a long career as a novelist, with books including Kane and Abel and the Clifton Chronicles. One report said his novels had sold more than 300 million copies worldwide; the publisher’s statement, as reported, did not independently detail sales figures. His political career was interrupted in 2001, when he was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice and sentenced to four years in prison. The case arose from a libel action Archer had brought against The Star newspaper. Reports said an Old Bailey jury found that he had lied in the case, in which he had been awarded £500,000 in damages. He was released early in 2003 and later returned to the House of Lords, where he remained until retiring in 2024.