Peter Archer, Baron Archer of Sandwell

Peter Kingsley Archer, Baron Archer of Sandwell, (20 November 1926 – 14 June 2012), was a British lawyer and Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 until 1992, when he became a life peer. Between 1974 and 1979 he was Solicitor General for England and Wales.

Early life and education Archer was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire on 20 November 1926. He left school at sixteen, and became a clerk for the Ministry of Health before spending four years working in coal mines under the Bevin Boys scheme.

Career Archer joined the Labour Party in 1947. After contesting Brierley Hill in 1964, he was returned for Rowley Regis and Tipton in 1966. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Attorney General Sir Elwyn Jones (1967–1970) and in 1969 was the British representative on the United Nations' "third committee" on human rights. was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1971

After boundary changes for the February 1974 election, Archer was returned for Warley West. In the new Labour government, led by Harold Wilson and then James Callaghan, he was appointed Solicitor General, a post he held until 1979.

From 1992 to 1999 he was Chairman of the Council on Tribunals.

He was described as being an "extremely active" member of the Fabian Society, sitting on their executive committee between 1974 and 1986 and was chairman between 1980 and 1981. From 1993 until his death, he was their President, and over the same period served as President of Uniting for Peace (formerly the World Disarmament Campaign), and of the One World Trust.

Personal life Archer was a Methodist local preacher. He married Margaret Smith in 1954 and they had one son. At the time of his death, he lived in Wraysbury, Berkshire.

On 14 June 2012, Archer died at the Royal Berkshire Hospital from bronchopneumonia and viral encephalitis; he was 85. Upon his death, he was described as being a "vigorous campaigner" for human rights who had a commitment to world government. Paying tribute to him in The Independent, Tam Dalyell said: "Archer was one of those rare politicians who made judgements and whose actions followed what he believed to be right and eschewed what was wrong. ... Archer was an idealist, but an idealist with his feet on the ground, commanding respect and using every moment of his long public life constructively."

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