Epstein and Mandelson put trust in politics back in the spotlight

In November 2025, Sir Keir Starmer declared that “every minute that's not spent talking about and dealing with the cost of living is a minute wasted of the political work of this government”. If that is the case, then most of this week, at the very least, can be considered a write-off. During a week in which he planned to champion his recent visit to China, Starmer will instead be dragged into discussions about his former US Ambassador, Lord Peter Mandelson, after further revelations about Lord Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein were revealed over the weekend and caused him to stand down from the House of Lords.  

The release of three million documents by the US Department of Justice featured his name prominently, and journalists spent the weekend combing through a pile of 5,909 files marked “Mandelson”. The disclosures to date include suggestions that Lord Mandelson gave Epstein advance notice of an impending EU bailout at the time of the financial crisis, sent him internal government documents about the state of the UK economy and lobbied the Treasury on bankers’ bonuses at Epstein's suggestion, advising that Jamie Dimon, who was chief executive of JP Morgan, "mildly threaten" then-Chancellor, Alistair Darling. 

In 2003 and 2004, bank statements also show three separate payments of $25,000 referencing Lord Mandelson being sent from Epstein. Lord Mandelson said he had no record or recollection of receiving the sums and did not know whether the documents were authentic and that they need "investigating by me". In 2009, Epstein also sent £10,000 to Lord Mandelson's partner to fund an “osteopathy course”. 

Labour MPs will no doubt be asking the government serious questions about the lack of judgement shown by the Prime Minister in bringing Lord Mandelson back to public life when he appointed him to the position of US Ambassador in December 2024, a time when his links with Epstein were no secret. After quitting the Labour party, Lord Mandelson explained it was to prevent “further embarrassment”. However, the Prime Minister has acknowledged he is concerned about the possibility of more revelations, stating that he was “not reassured that the totality of the information had yet emerged”.  

This story shows no signs of disappearing, and has the potential for further fallout as new reports and evidence emerge of Epstein’s crimes and the abuse suffered by his victims. While the government moved quickly to distance from Lord Mandelson, there are wider implications for politics and politicians more generally. The political focus will remain on Mandelson for the time being as there is likely to be a Conservative Opposition Day debate in the House of Commons tomorrow on publishing documents related to Lord Mandelson's appointment as US Ambassador. Government whips are reporting that many Labour MPs are expected to support the motion, leading to a party management problem for the Prime Minister. 

Starmer, who campaigned heavily on getting rid of sleaze in politics and entered government with a promise to “clean up politics”, must explain how he will do so, especially while presiding over a government struggling to deal with populist challenges who will seek to capitalise and inflict further pain on it. In an interview with The Times published yesterday, Lord Mandelson correctly observed that British politics is “ripe for disruption”, however it is not yet clear that he has reflected on his own role in bringing that about. 

Twenty-five years ago, in his victory speech after the 2001 general election, Lord Mandelson famously said: "It was said that I was facing political oblivion... Well, they underestimated Hartlepool and they underestimated me because I am a fighter and not a quitter". As with each of Lord Mandelson’s previous falls from grace, the political collateral damage has been significant. A quarter of a century after his famous speech, we must wait to see the impact on the current Labour government, as it appears that political oblivion has finally caught up with him.