The former Conservative candidate for mayor of London, Lord Archer, was expelled for five years from the Conservative Party last night after its Ethics and Integrity Committee concluded he had acted in a "reprehensible" manner.
Lord Archer had been facing the possibility of a lifetime ban after he admitted last year that he had asked a friend to lie for him in the run-up to a libel case against the Daily Star in 1987 over allegations involving a prostitute. He was subsequently awarded £500,000 damages. The Conservative leadership had previously withdrawn the party whip in the House of Lords.
In a statement last night, Lord Archer said: "I am naturally disappointed with the committee's decision, which I consider to be grossly unfair. I shall be consulting my advisers early next week as to whether or not to appeal."
Severely embarrassed by Lord Archer's conduct, the Conservatives had wanted to act swiftly to draw a line under a difficult period for the leadership of Mr William Hague. It is understood that Lord Archer was informed of the intention to expel him, which is subject to appeal, in a formal letter earlier this week.
It is unlikely that Lord Archer will decide to appeal, such is the strength of feeling against him within Conservative circles, and a return to frontline politics is also doubtful. The committee's decision was being described in Westminster last night as the end of Lord Archer's political career. Lord Archer's latest fall from grace was sealed when he promised the Conservative Party chairman, Mr Michael Ancram, in June 1999 that there were no new, substantial or damaging allegations which could be made against him. He subsequently confessed that he had lied about an alibi in the Daily Star case when it became clear that a British newspaper was about to expose him.
After the committee's announcement, Mr Ancram said he was grateful to the committee for the way in which it had conducted the referral and would now publish the committee's decision in full and subject to appeal, to implement the decision to expel Lord Archer.
Sir Archie Hamilton, chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee and a member of the Ethics and Integrity Committee, said members had to "take a balanced judgment. And it would, I think, have been more than five years if we hadn't taken into account the amazing contribution Jeffrey Archer has actually made to the Tory Party."
The Labour Party's mayoral campaign co-ordinator, Mr Ian McCartney, said the Conservatives had failed to deal properly with Lord Archer by backing off from a lifetime ban. "This sorry saga is yet more proof of William Hague's poor judgment and weak leadership."
The committee was devastating in its criticism of Lord Archer. In its judgment the committee concluded that his conduct, once it had been revealed, was "new and damaging" to the party. Lord Archer and his legal advisers had argued that so much time had passed since he had asked his friend to lie for him that his conduct was "stale and should not be entertained".
But the committee decided otherwise, saying: "It was not conduct which could be dismissed, as his legal advisers sought to do, merely because it was old and stale. The critical point, overlooked by Lord Archer's advisers, is that conduct whenever engaged in, which has been concealed, becomes new conduct when discovered and revealed publicly.
"It is the element of concealment which also makes what Lord Archer had done in order to promote his personal ambitions more reprehensible," it said.
The committee, chaired by Ms Elizabeth Appleby QC, said Lord Archer's admission was not prompted by any "pang of conscience but the prospect of his imminent disgrace."