Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for former UK ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson to be removed from the House of Lords, following the
release of new documents detailing Mandelson’s links to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The intervention came on Monday as pressure mounted on Mandelson, a long-standing figure in the Labour movement, after U.S. Justice Department files resurfaced allegations about his relationship with Epstein. Mandelson was dismissed from his ambassadorial post last year after earlier disclosures, and he resigned from the Labour Party late on Sunday, saying he did not want to cause “further embarrassment”.
The newly released material includes photographs of Mandelson in his underwear, images that circulated widely across British media. The Financial Times also reported that the files indicate accounts linked to Mandelson received $75,000 from Epstein, fuelling renewed calls from opposition politicians for a full investigation.
In a letter to Labour, Mandelson said he regretted being drawn once again into what he described as the “understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein”. He denied allegations that Epstein made financial payments to him and said he intended to examine the claims in detail.
Starmer’s spokesperson said the prime minister believes Mandelson should no longer sit in the House of Lords, though he lacks the direct authority to remove him.
“The prime minister is calling on members of the Lords to work with the government to modernise disciplinary procedures, so that peers who bring the House into disrepute can be removed more easily,” the spokesperson said. Starmer has also instructed the cabinet secretary to review all available information concerning Mandelson’s contacts with Epstein.
Opposition figures argued that the government should go further. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for a formal Cabinet Office inquiry, questioning how Mandelson and his husband allegedly received money from Epstein while Mandelson was a Labour minister, and why he was later appointed ambassador to Washington.
Mandelson is currently on a leave of absence from the House of Lords. While he could voluntarily retire, forcing his removal would require new legislation to be passed by parliament.
A Labour Party spokesperson said Mandelson’s decision to quit the party was appropriate, adding that disciplinary proceedings had already been under way before his resignation.
Once a central architect of Labour’s election victories under Tony Blair in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Mandelson has repeatedly faced controversy. Last year, he was dismissed as ambassador after U.S. lawmakers released documents including a letter in which he referred to Epstein as “my best pal”.
Earlier in his career, Mandelson resigned as trade minister in 1998 over a loan from a fellow minister used to buy a house, amid concerns about conflicts of interest. He stepped down again from the cabinet in 2001 over allegations linked to a passport scandal involving an Indian billionaire, although he was later cleared of wrongdoing.
Separately, Starmer said at the weekend that Prince Andrew should give evidence to a U.S. congressional committee following further revelations about the royal’s own links to Epstein. Photo by World Economic Forum from Cologny, Switzerland, Wikimedia commons.