The bestselling author and disgraced former politician Jeffrey Archer has died aged 86.

Archer, who was a Conservative MP for five years before serving as the party’s deputy chairman, died “suddenly and peacefully at his home between writing sessions” on Monday, Harper Collins said.

Alongside his political career he was a wildly successful novelist, selling 300 million books during his five-decade career, and being made a life peer in 1992.

His political career was paused in 2001 with the disgrace of his being imprisoned for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

An Old Bailey jury found that he had lied in a libel action he had brought against newspaper 13 years earlier, in which he was awarded £500,000 damages.

As part of his imprisonment, Archer was in Belmarsh for less than a month, but he still documented his time there and later published his experience in the three-volume book, A Prison Diary, which detailed his time in three separate prisons. He described Belmarsh in the book as a “hell hole”.

He was released early in 2003 and returned to the House of Lords until he retired in 2024.

“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 made millions out of his best-selling novels, most notably 1979’s Kane and Abel, a modern retelling of the Biblical story of two brothers and the first murder.

Harper Collins said the author had met and signed books for hundreds of fans at a sold-out event with broadcaster Gyles Brandreth at the Leicester Square Theatre in central London on Sunday.

Writing on X, Brandreth said: “Just yesterday I did a show with Jeffrey Archer to celebrate his new novel – he said it was to be his last.

“He was in the most wonderful, ebullient form and had such a great reception from a packed house. He was funny, engaging and self-deprecating – a great storyteller to the last.”

Archer was due to be at the Cheltenham Festival on Saturday to discuss his final novel, Adam and Eve.

He had his wife Mary had celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year. They had two sons and five grandchildren.

The former Conservative chancellor and current Reform UK MP for Stratford-on-Avon Nadhim Zahawi posted a tribute to Lord Archer on X and praised his skills as a charity fundraiser.

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.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she received a message from Archer on Monday morning, ahead of the party’s conference in Birmingham.

“This is a huge shock,” she said, writing on X.

“I am incredibly saddened to hear this news. He had sent me a lovely message just this morning and was always a great source of encouragement to me personally.

“I can’t believe he’s gone. He was a dear friend to so many of us and the Conservative family will be reeling at this news. Our thoughts are with Dame Mary and all their family at this time.”