LONDON, A year ago, Peter Mandelson was Britain’s ambassador to Washington, the latest high-profile role in a rocky but influential political career.
His friendship with Jeffrey Epstein cost him that job, and now, after new revelations, Mandelson is facing renewed demands to fully explain his relationship with the late sex offender.
Mandelson resigned from the governing Labour Party on Sunday following claims that he received payments from Epstein two decades ago. Mandelson said he was stepping aside to avoid causing “further embarrassment,” even as he denied the allegations linked to a trove of more than 3 million pages of documents related to Epstein released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who previously dismissed Mandelson from his ambassadorial post over earlier Epstein-related revelations, is now facing pressure to push Mandelson to testify in the United States about what he knew of Epstein’s activities.
On Monday, Starmer urged Mandelson to resign from the House of Lords, Parliament’s unelected upper chamber, where Mandelson has held a lifetime appointment since 2008. Resigning would also mean giving up his noble title, Lord Mandelson.
If he refuses, removing him would require a lengthy legislative process, similar to one last used more than a century ago to strip aristocrats of titles during World War I.
“The prime minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords or use the title,” Starmer spokesman Tom Wells said. “However, the prime minister does not have the power to remove it.”
Mandelson, like King Charles III’s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, is also facing calls to testify in the U.S. about Epstein.
Cabinet minister Steve Reed said Monday that both men have a “moral obligation” to help Epstein’s victims.
“If anybody has information or evidence that they can share that might help to understand what’s gone on and bring justice for those victims, then they should share it,” Reed told Sky News.
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. Years earlier, he avoided federal prosecution by pleading guilty to state charges in Florida involving solicitation of prostitution with a minor.
The latest Epstein document release includes hundreds of text and email messages exchanged between Mandelson and Epstein, revealing a warm relationship. Mandelson referred to Epstein as “my best pal” in 2003.
Several documents appear to reference payments from Epstein to Mandelson or his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva. Bank records from 2003 and 2004 suggest three payments totaling $75,000 were sent from an Epstein-linked account.
Mandelson has questioned the authenticity of the statements, saying he has no recollection of receiving the money and will investigate.
In his resignation letter, he also apologized to the women and girls whose voices “should have been heard long before now.”
Another document suggests Epstein sent $10,000 to da Silva in 2010 for an osteopathy course.
The files also include an email exchange from 2009 in which Mandelson, then a U.K. government minister, appeared to tell Epstein he would lobby officials to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses.
Documents further suggest Mandelson shared sensitive government discussion details with Epstein following the 2008 global financial crisis.
Starmer has ordered an urgent review of all Mandelson’s contacts with Epstein while he was in government.
Also included in the released files is a photo of Mandelson standing in a shirt and underwear near an unidentified woman in a bathrobe.
Mandelson, 72, has been a major and often controversial figure in Britain’s Labour Party for decades. Known for his political skill and intrigue, he earned the nickname “Prince of Darkness.”
He played a key role in Labour’s return to power in 1997 under Prime Minister Tony Blair and held senior government roles under both Blair and Gordon Brown.
Mandelson twice resigned during the Blair administration over allegations of financial or ethical impropriety, acknowledging mistakes but denying wrongdoing.
He later returned to frontline politics when Starmer appointed him ambassador to Washington at the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term. His expertise was seen as valuable in securing a trade deal in May that spared Britain from some tariffs.
However, Starmer dismissed him in September after emails revealed Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein continued even after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea.
