Lord Archer, the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party and millionaire novelist, has been charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice. This follows allegations that he asked a friend to lie for him during a libel action in 1987.
The charges yesterday follow a nine-month investigation by Scotland Yard's organised crime squad. Last year the disgraced peer admitted that he asked a friend to lie for him during his battle with the Daily Star over its claim that he paid money to a prostitute.
When the controversy resurfaced last year it forced Lord Archer to withdraw from the race for Mayor of London and he was subsequently expelled from the Tory party for five years and had the party whip withdrawn.
Lord Archer was formally charged at Wimbledon police station in west London yesterday and was bailed to appear at Bow Street magistrates' court next Tuesday. If found guilty of perjury, he could be imprisoned for a maximum of seven years. He faces a possible life sentence on the charge of perverting the course of justice.
The decision to charge him came within hours of the curtain going up on his stage debut in his new play, The Accused, a courtroom drama about a doctor charged with murdering his wife, which opened in Windsor, Berkshire.
Confirming the charges, a Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Jeffrey Archer has been charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice, two counts of perjury and one count of using a false instrument." That charge is understood to relate to an affidavit he used during the libel case.
The Conservatives distanced themselves from their former MP, insisting; "This is a matter of criminal law."
Mr Ted Francis, the television producer who said that Lord Archer had asked him to provide a false alibi, was also charged with perverting the course of justice. Lord Archer admitted he had been "a fool" to ask Mr Francis to say they were having dinner on the evening he was dining with a friend and the Daily Star alleged he was with a prostitute.
In the event the false alibi was not needed because the Daily Star changed the date which, it alleged, Lord Archer spent with the prostitute. He subsequently won £500,000 in damages and £700,000 in costs.
Lord Archer looked unruffled yesterday as he arrived in Windsor for rehearsals of his play. He declined to talk to reporters.
A theatre spokesman, Mr Craig Titley, said: "The play is sold out until Thursday and sales are going very well." He insisted it was "an amazing coincidence", not a publicity stunt, that the opening night of the play was the same day as Lord Archer reported back to Wimbledon police station.