Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare was an English novelist and former politician. He was Member of Parliament for Louth from 1969 to 1974, but did not seek re-election after a financial scandal that left him almost bankrupt. Archer revived his fortunes as a novelist. In 2001 he was sentenced to four years of imprisonment for perjury and perverting the course of justice, ending his active political career.