Editing Jeffrey Archer (section)

==Member of Parliament==
At 29, Archer was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for the [[Lincolnshire]] constituency of [[Louth, Lincolnshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Louth]], holding the seat for the Conservative Party in a [[1969 Louth by-election|by-election]] on 4 December 1969.<ref name=Jeffrey/> Archer beat [[Ian Gow]] to the selection after winning over a substantial proportion of younger members at the selection meeting. The national party had concerns about Archer's selection, specifically relating to the UNA expenses allegations made by Humphry Berkeley, himself a former Conservative MP.  Berkeley tried to persuade the [[Conservative Central Office]] that Archer was unsuitable as a parliamentary candidate.<ref name=Watkins/> Archer brought a defamation action against Berkeley and the story was kept out of the press, although a truncated version of the story did appear in ''The Times''.<ref name=Davies/> The case was eventually settled out of court, with Archer agreeing to pay legal costs of around £30,000.<ref name=Stubley>{{cite news|last1=Stubley |first1=Peter |title=Jeffrey Archer: Shepherds pie and Mayfair tarts |url=http://courtnewsuk.co.uk/c_famous_crime_cases/a_jeffrey_archer/crime_vaults/ |access-date=4 November 2015 |work=Court News UK |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151023083605/http://courtnewsuk.co.uk/c_famous_crime_cases/a_jeffrey_archer/crime_vaults |archive-date=23 October 2015 }}</ref>

Louth constituency had three key areas: [[Louth, Lincolnshire|Louth]], [[Cleethorpes]], and [[Immingham]]. During his time as an MP, Archer was a regular at the Immingham Conservative Club in the most working-class part of the constituency. In 1970 he took part in the Kennedy Memorial Test, a 50-mile running/walking race from Louth to [[Skegness]] and back.<ref>{{cite web|title=Archive Listings|url=http://www.lincsfilm.co.uk/listings/listing561580.html|publisher=Lincolnshire Film Archive|access-date=4 March 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112253/http://www.lincsfilm.co.uk/listings/listing561580.html|archive-date=2 April 2015}}</ref>

In [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|parliament]], Archer was on the left of the Conservative Party, rebelling against some of his party's policies. He advocated free [[TV licence]]s for elderly people and was against museum entrance charges.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1971/jun/21/museums-and-galleries-admission-charges#S5CV0819P0_19710621_HOC_292 "Museum and Galleries (Admission Charges)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427233704/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1971/jun/21/museums-and-galleries-admission-charges |date=27 April 2014 }}, ''Hansard'', HC Deb 21 June 1971, vol 819, cc993-1067, col.1031-4</ref> In 1971, he employed [[David Mellor]] to deal with his correspondence. He tipped Mellor to reach the cabinet. In an interview, in February 1999 Archer said, "I hope we don't return to extremes. I'm what you might call centre-right but I've always disliked the right wing as much as I've disliked the left wing."<ref>{{cite news|title=Lord Archer answers your questions|date=1 February 1999|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/269876.stm|access-date=14 June 2007|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222115831/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/269876.stm|archive-date=22 December 2007}}</ref>