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Simon Kerslake

First Among Equals
FirstAmongEquals.jpg
First edition (UK)
Author Jeffrey Archer
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre Political novel
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton (UK)
Simon & Schuster (US)
Publication date
1984
Media type Print
Pages 446 pp
ISBN
OCLC 10607270
823/.914 19
LC Class PR6051.R285 F5 1984
The Right Honourable
Simon Kerslake
MP PC
Leader of the Opposition
In office
1990–1990
Preceded by Margaret Thatcher
Shadow Housing Spokesman
In office
1969–1970
Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office
In office
1970–1974
Prime Minister Edward Heath
Shadow Minister of State for Education
In office
1975–1979
Prime Minister Harold Wilson
James Callaghan
Minister of State for Northern Ireland
In office
1979–1982
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Minister of State for Defence
In office
1982–1985
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Secretary of State for Defence
In office
1985–1988
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office
1988–1989
Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office
1989–1990
Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Office
Assumed office
1990
Member of Parliament
for Coventry Central
In office
1964–1974
Member of Parliament
for Pucklebridge
Assumed office
1975
Majority 19,641
Personal details
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Drummond Kerslake
Children Peter Kerslake
Michael Kerslake
Occupation Politician

First Among Equals is a 1984 novel by British author Jeffrey Archer, which follows the careers and personal lives of four fictional British politicians (Simon Kerslake, MP for Coventry Central and later Pucklebridge; Charles Seymour, MP for Sussex Downs; Raymond Gould, MP for Leeds North; and Andrew Fraser, MP for Edinburgh Carlton) from 1964 to 1991, with each vying to become Prime Minister. Several situations in the novel are drawn from the author's own early political career in the British House of Commons, and the fictional characters interact with actual political figures from the UK and elsewhere including Winston Churchill, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher, Douglas Hurd, Colonel Gadaffi, Gary Hart and Queen Elizabeth II.

The title is a literal translation of the Latin term Primus inter pares, a term used to refer to either the most senior member of a group of equals (peers) or to refer to someone who claims to be just one member of a group of equals when in reality he or she completely dominates said group. This phrase is used to describe the official constitutional status of the British Prime Minister within his Cabinet.

When published in the United States, the novel was rewritten to eliminate the character of Andrew Fraser. The Fraser character eventually departs the Labour Party to join the breakaway Social Democratic Party. According to Archer, the change was made because the publisher did not believe the American audience would understand a multi-party political system. As a result, several plot elements revolving around Andrew Fraser were transferred to other characters, notably Simon Kerslake, who suffered through a change of heart in a prospective marriage partner and the later loss of a child in the US edition, while these events happened to Andrew Fraser in the UK edition.


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