Jeffrey Archer has died suddenly and peacefully at his home at the age of 86, publishers Harper Collins have announced.

The best-selling author died “between writing sessions”, just one day before the planned publication of his latest novel, Adam And Eve, his publisher said.

Archer’s books sold more than 300 million copies across 115 countries. He is survived by his wife, Dame Mary, 81, an eminent scientist; their sons, William, 54, and James, 52; and five young grandchildren.

Lord Archer represented Louth as an MP from 1969 until 1974. He later entered the House of Lords in 1992 after being appointed a life peer.

After losing his parliamentary seat in the 1970s, he embarked on a writing career. His 1979 novel Kane And Abel remains one of the world’s best-selling books, with more than 30 million copies sold.

Lord Archer returned to frontline politics the following decade, becoming deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in 1985 during Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.

In 1999, he announced that he would run as the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, securing the backing of both Baroness Thatcher and John Major.

Lord Archer and Dame Mary marked their 60th wedding anniversary in July with a garden party attended by 321 friends at their second home, the Old Vicarage in Grantchester, Cambridge.

The couple also owned a penthouse overlooking the Thames and a property in Majorca, where Jeffrey Archer wrote many of his novels.

The novelist’s fortune was estimated at about £200 million this year, although he declined to comment on the figure when speaking to Our News Outlet in September.

Lord Archer gave his final interview to Our News Outlet last month, discussing his long career and his health problems.

After being diagnosed with cancer in 2013, Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare underwent surgery to remove his prostate. He later revealed that the operation had left him permanently impotent.

“I’d rather have a life. ‘Fertile and dead’. It’s not much of a choice, is it?” he said previously.

Adam And Eve was intended to be his final novel. Speaking to this paper, Lord Archer said: “I’m 86. I don’t think I could do it again. So why not go now?”

“It’s hard work. I write every word in longhand with a felt-tip pen on a 32-line pad. I hand-wrote 18 drafts over two years. I don’t know how to turn on a computer.”

He added in September: “I find old age tiresome. I don’t think I’d like to live to 100. I have a hip problem.

“I can’t move as quickly as I’d like to, but thankfully Mary and I both seem to be firing on all cylinders mentally.”

‘Alzheimer’s is my biggest dread, so I test my memory all the time; for names, places, events.’

‘I’m conscious that time is precious now’, Mary – who previously overcame bladder cancer – told Our News Outlet in September. 

‘We must use it well and I’d rather spend our old age together than apart. We’ve both been through cancer.’  

After suffering financial difficulties following the end of his first stint in politics in 1974, Jeffrey and Mary were saved first by her offer of a teaching job at Cambridge University, and later by his £2million advance for Kane And Abel.

Lord Archer was forced to resign as deputy chairman of the Conservatives after he was accused of paying money to a sex worker. 

He won a libel case in 1987 over the claims and was awarded large damages.

Lord Archer’s infidelities were publicly documented during and after his subsequent trial for perjury and perverting the course of justice in 2001, for which he was found guilty and served two years in prison. 

He famously had a three-year affair with the late actress Sally Farmiloe, and another with his then secretary Andrina Colquhoun.

Dame Mary once said she’d never considered divorcing her husband but had come close to murdering him. 

In his interview with Our News Outlet, he reflected on ambitions he never realised, saying: ‘I wish I’d won an Olympic gold and become Mayor of London.’

Lord Archer’s dream of running the capital was ended when it emerged he had lied in the libel case.