Labour peer Lord Archer dies

Former MP and minister Lord Archer of Sandwell died today aged 85, it has been announced.

The Labour peer was a retired barrister who served as solicitor general from 1974 to 1979.

As Peter Archer he was MP for Rowley Regis and Tipton from 1966 to 1974 and for Warley West from 1974 to 1992.

He served in the Labour shadow cabinet in the 1980s and as an opposition spokesman on foreign affairs after being given a peerage in 1992.

Lord Speaker Baroness D'Souza announced in the House of Lords that Lord Archer had died earlier today.

PA