Jeffrey Archer, the bestselling British author and former politician who served a prison sentence after being convicted of lying in a high-profile libel case, has died at the age of 86, his publisher HarperCollins said on Monday.
In a statement HarperCollins’ UK CEO and Archer’s editor, Kate Elton, said, “We’re all devastated to have lost a writer who has brought joy to generations of readers — and a true friend.”
Archer was born in north London on April 15, 1940, and later moved with his family to Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. He entered politics in 1969 after being elected as the Conservative MP for Louth, serving in the House of Commons for five years before going on to become deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.
HarperCollins hailed Archer as a “master storyteller”, adding that his readers “meant everything to him”. Archer and his wife Mary celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year, according to HarperCollins. Archer was also a prominent Conservative politician. He briefly served as a lawmaker before taking up a senior position within the party under then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the mid-1980s.
The publisher said Archer had appeared at London’s Leicester Square Theatre on Sunday, where he signed books for fans alongside broadcaster Gyles Brandreth.
