Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare, is an English novelist and former politician. Born on 15 April 1940, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth, Lincolnshire from 1969 to 1974 but did not seek re-election after a financial scandal nearly bankrupted him.

Archer revived his fortunes with his career as a novelist. His novel Kane and Abel (1979) remains one of the best-selling books worldwide, with an estimated 34 million copies sold. Overall, his books have sold more than 320 million copies across the globe.

From 1985 to 1986, Archer was the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. He resigned after being accused of paying money to a prostitute. Although he won a civil case in 1987 and was awarded large damages, his political career took a downturn when he was sentenced to four years in prison in 2001 for perjury and perverting the course of justice. He was released early in 2003, marking the end of his active involvement in politics.

Jeffrey Archer is the only author to have been a number one bestseller in fiction, short stories, and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries). He is published in 114 countries and more than 47 languages, with international sales exceeding 275 million copies.

He has been married for 53 years to Dame Mary Archer DBE. They have two sons, William and James, three grandsons, and two granddaughters, and they split their time between homes in London, Cambridge, and Mallorca.