Author and former politician Jeffrey Archer dies aged 86Image source, Getty ImagesPublished5 October 2026, 21:30 BSTUpdated 1 minute agoBestselling author and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86. Archer sold more than 300 million books in his five-decade writing career, including the Clifton Chronicles and Kane and Abel, and has often set the novels in his home town of Wellington, Somerset.In a statement, Archer's publisher HarperCollins said the author died "suddenly and peacefully at home" on Monday. The former Conservative MP was jailed for perjury in 2001 after being found guilty of lying and cheating in his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star.Archer was made a life peer in 1992 but his political career was paused in 2001 when he was jailed for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice.He was found to have lied in libel action he had brought against The Star newspaper, in which he was awarded £500,000 in damages.He was released in 2003 and returned to the House of Lords until he retired in 2024.His last book, Adam and Eve, is set to be released this month, HarperCollins added, describing him as a "master storyteller" whose readers "meant everything to him".Paying tribute to the bestselling author, Kate Elton, HarperCollins UK CEO and Jeffrey's editor, said: "It has been one of the great privileges of my publishing life to have been Jeffrey Archer's editor."He was the master storyteller and an editor's dream - phenomenally hard-working, utterly committed to completing draft after draft to get every word as perfect as possible, and a true champion of the 'team' nature of great publishing."Archer was born in north London on 15 April 1940 but would quickly move to Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, where his family bought a house from John Cleese's mother.Former Conservative chancellor and current Reform UK MP for Stratford-on-Avon Nadhim Zahawi paid tribute to the bestselling author on X. He wrote: "Jeffrey Archer was a dear friend and an extraordinary human being. His gift for storytelling was matched by his wit, warmth and boundless energy. Life was never dull in Jeffrey's company."Related topicsLiteratureBooks