Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-Super-Mare is an English novelist, former politician, convicted perjurer, and peer of the realm. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament, but did not seek re-election after a financial scandal that left him almost bankrupt. He revived his fortunes as a best-selling novelist; his books have sold around 330 million copies worldwide. Archer became deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, before resigning after a newspaper accused him of paying money to a prostitute. In 1987, he won a court case and was awarded large damages because of this claim. He was made a life peer in 1992 and subsequently became Conservative candidate to be the first elected Mayor of London. He had to resign his candidacy in 1999 after it emerged that he had lied in his 1987 libel case. He was imprisoned for perjury and perverting the course of justice, ending his elected political career.
Born: | Jeffrey Howard Archer, Finsbury, London, England |
Political party: | Non-affiliated (since 2001) Conservative (prior to 2001) |
Spouse(s): | Mary Doreen Weeden (m. 1966) |
Children: | 2 |
Residence: | London, England |
Occupation: | Politician, author |
IMDb: | Jeffrey Archer's IMDb |
About Jeffrey Archer
An English author and politician who resigned from Parliament on the heels of a financial scandal, he became famous for his 1976 novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less. His other works include Sons of Fortune (2002) and A Prisoner of Birth (2008).
Before Fame
He received training as a teacher through the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education. At the age of twenty-nine, he became a member of Parliament.
Achievement
The publication of his first novel saved him from bankruptcy.
Family Life
He was born in London, and he grew up in Somerset, England. He married Doreen Weeden; together, they had two children.
Associations
When Archer campaigned for the office of Mayor of London in 2000, he had the support of former Prime Minister John Major.
Information related to Jeffrey Archer
- Jonathan Aitken — Archer's contemporary, another Conservative politician imprisoned for perjury.
- Chris Huhne — Liberal Democrat politician, imprisoned for perverting the course of justice.
- Inmates of HM Prison Belmarsh
- People educated at Wellington School, Somerset
- British people convicted of perverting the course of justice
- Members of the Greater London Council
- British sportsperson-politicians
- British politicians convicted of crimes
- People involved in plagiarism controversies
- English Anglicans
- Conservative Party (UK) life peers
- Cancer survivors
- 21st-century British novelists
- Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
- 20th-century British novelists