UK author and politician Jeffrey Archer dies aged 86

​Jeffrey Archer, the best-selling ​British novelist and ‌former politician ​who was jailed for lying in a high-profile libel case, has ‌died aged 86, his publisher HarperCollins said on Monday.

Archer sold over 300 million copies worldwide and wasknown for ‌pacy thrillers like his 1976 debut "Not a Penny ‌More, Not a Penny Less" and "Kane & Abel", with his final novel Adam and Eve due to be published this month. He ⁠was ​also a ⁠prominent Conservative politician, who briefly served as a lawmaker before ⁠becoming a senior party official under prime minister Margaret Thatcher ​in the mid-1980s.

But Archer suffered a very public ⁠downfall when he was convicted of perjury and perverting the ⁠course ​of justice in 2001, being sentenced to four years' imprisonment. Kate Elton, HarperCollins' UK CEO and ⁠Archer's editor, said in a statement: "We're all devastated to have ⁠lost ⁠a writer who has brought joy to generations of readers - and a true friend."