Jeffrey Archer: Best-selling author and former politician dies aged 86

Bestselling author and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86.

In a statement, Archer's publisher HarperCollins said the author died "suddenly and peacefully at home" on Monday between writing sessions.

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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.

He served as an MP for five years before becoming Conservative Party deputy chairman.

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.

His last book, Adam and Eve, is set to be released this week, HarperCollins added, describing him as a "master storyteller" whose readers "meant everything to him".

"It's wonderful to come back. What I got a real thrill about when I was walking towards the library is seeing the young boys and girls and thinking, 'that's the next generation'," Archer said at Wellington School.

He and his wife Mary had celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year, HarperCollins said.

Jeffrey Archer, pictured here with Margaret Thatcher, served as a Conservative MP and party chairman

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch described Archer's death as a "huge shock".

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.