Jeffrey Archer

Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 May 1940) is a British author and politician. He was a member of Parliament, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and since 1992 is a life peer. His political career ended after an indictment for perjury. He is married to Mary Archer, a prominent scientist in solar power.

Biography

Early life 
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. Archer sued the Daily Star.

Perjury and downfall 
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. 

Many of Lord Archer's friends remained loyal to him.

In addition, Archer lost an £8m libel case about false accusations in his book twist of tales, portraying Major General James Oluleye to be a thief. Oluleye was a man who left a legacy of honesty and integrity for the future generations of Nigerians, See his book "Architecturing a Destiny" and "Military Leadership in Nigeria".

Bibliography 
1975 - In the Lap of the Gods
1976 - Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
1977 - Shall We Tell the President?
1979 - Kane and Abel
1980 - Willy visits the Square World
1980 - A Quiver Full of Arrows (Short story collection)
1982 - The Prodigal Daughter
1984 - First Among Equals
1986 - A Matter of Honour
1988 - A Twist in the Tale (Short story collection)
1991 - As the Crow Flies
1993 - Honour Among Thieves
1994 - Twelve Red Herrings (Short story collection)
1996 - The Fourth Estate
1998 - The Eleventh Commandment
2000 - To Cut A Long Story Short (Short story collection)
2002 - Sons of Fortune
2002 - A Prison Diary
2003 - A Prison Diary Volume 2
2004 - A Prison Diary Volume 3
2006 - False Impression
2006 - Cat O'Nine Tales (Short story collection)
2007 - The Gospel According to Judas (with Francis J. Moloney)

References

Further reading

Other websites 
Interview about becoming Mayor of London at BBC News
Jeffrey Archer's official Web site
News In Depth: The Archer trial at BBC News
 "The Times" - "Activists demand tough line on crime - Conservative Party conference" - October 7 1993.
 Coverage of the Archer trial at The Guardian
 Review of Jeffrey Archer's 2000 courtroom play, The Accused at Curtain Up
 Anglia shares at BBC News
 Archer in DTI shares inquiry at The Guardian
 The webpage for the book 'The Wonga Coup' 
 Real Audio interview with Jeffrey Archer  by Don Swaim at Wired For Books

1940 births
Living people
English novelists
Former Conservative Party (UK) MPs
Former members of the British House of Commons for English constituencies
United Kingdom Life Peers
Writers from Somerset