Jonathan Aitken was born in Dublin, 30 August 1942, the son of Sir William Aitken and Penelope Aitken (née Maffey). He was educated at Eton College; Christ Church, Oxford; and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He married (1) Lolicia Olivera Azucki in 1979 (divorced 1998), with whom he has one son and two daughters, and (2) Elizabeth Harris (née Rees-Williams) in 2003.

He was a Private Secretary to Selwyn Lloyd, 1964-6; a foreign correspondent on the London Evening Standard, 1966-71; a presenter for Yorkshire Television, 1968-70; and Managing Director of Slater Walker (Middle East) Ltd, 1973-5. He contested the constituency of Meriden, 1966; and was dropped as the candidate for Thirsk and Malton, 1970, after being charged with a breach of the Official Secrets Act, of which he was later acquitted. He was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Thanet East, 1974-83, and Thanet South, 1983-97.

He was Minister of State for Defence Procurement, 1992-4, and Chief Secretary to the Treasury, 1994-5. He was also a Director of TV-am, 1981-8.

He launched a libel action against The Guardian and Granada Television and the subsequent trial collapsed in 1997. He was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice, in 1999, and sentenced to eighteen months in prison, of which he served seven months.

His publications include: "A Short Walk on the Campus" (1966); "The Young Meteors" (1967); "Land of Fortune: a Study of Australia" (1969); "Officially Secret" (1970); "Richard Nixon: a Life" (1993); "Pride and Perjury" (2000); "Psalms for People Under Pressure" (2004); "Porridge and Passion" (2005); "Charles W. Colson: a Life Redeemed" (2005); "Heroes and Contemporaries" (2006); "John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace" (2007); and "Nazarbayev and the Making of Kazakhstan" (2009).