Mandelson, a longtime figure in Britain’s Labour Party who previously served in senior roles including as ambassador to Washington, stepped down from the party on Sunday after renewed allegations tied to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The new pressure intensified after revelations that Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein included references to payments and close contact, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer now pushing him to leave politics altogether.
Starmer, who had fired Mandelson from his ambassadorial post over earlier revelations about Epstein ties, urged Mandelson on Monday to resign from his lifetime seat in the House of Lords and to give up his noble title. A Starmer spokesman, Tom Wells, said the prime minister believes Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords or use the title, while also adding that Starmer does not have the power to remove it. Wells’ remarks left the outcome dependent on whether Parliament would take further steps if Mandelson did not go willingly.
Opposition politicians, joined by some lawmakers from the governing Labour Party, also called for police to investigate claims that Mandelson gave Epstein sensitive government information. The Metropolitan Police said it had received “a number of reports relating to alleged misconduct in a public office” and would review them “to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.”
The episode is part of a broader political reckoning with Epstein-related material released by U.S. authorities. Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on U.S. federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of girls. He had earlier avoided federal prosecution after pleading guilty to state charges in Florida involving solicitation of prostitution that included a minor, according to the documents and background discussed in the reporting.
The latest allegations against Mandelson surfaced as part of a DOJ release that includes more than 3 million pages of documents. The reporting described hundreds of text messages and emails between Mandelson and Epstein, including a reference in 2003 to Epstein as “my best pal.” Several records appear to refer to payments from Epstein to Mandelson or to his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, including a set of documents that appear to show an Epstein account sending three payments totaling $75,000 to accounts connected to Mandelson. Mandelson denied the allegations in resigning from Labour and said he was stepping aside to avoid further embarrassment, while also questioning the authenticity of the payment documents and saying he would investigate.
Other records cited in the reporting also suggested Epstein sent da Silva 10,000 pounds in 2009 to pay for an osteopathy course. The documents further described a 2009 email exchange in which Mandelson, then a U.K. government minister, appeared to tell Epstein he would lobby other government members to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses. In addition, the reporting said the file included documents suggesting Mandelson sent details of sensitive U.K. government discussions to Epstein after the 2008 global financial crisis.
Starmer ordered the civil service to conduct an “urgent” review of all of Mandelson’s contacts with Epstein while he was in government. Steve Reed, a cabinet minister, said Monday that both Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor faced a “moral obligation” to share any information that could help Epstein’s victims, while other figures connected to Epstein ties have also faced calls to testify in the United States.
Mandelson, 72, has long been a major but contentious presence within the Labour Party, with critics describing him as ruthless and defenders portraying him as a skilled operator. Over decades in politics, he helped shape the party’s return to power in 1997 as part of Tony Blair’s “New Labour” push and later served in senior posts under Blair and Gordon Brown, with an interlude as the European Union’s trade commissioner. During Blair’s premiership, he resigned twice from government amid allegations of financial or ethical impropriety, according to the reporting, and he returned later to prominent roles, including being named ambassador to Washington.
The reporting said Starmer fired Mandelson from that ambassadorial role in September after emails were published showing Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein continued even after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea. Now, with new claims emerging from the expanded U.S. files and police reviewing allegations of misconduct in a public office, Mandelson’s political future appears tied to whether he will step down from the House of Lords and comply with calls to testify.