Lord Peter Mandelson’s long and varied political career has hit a new low amid calls to strip him of his peerage and a pending review of his interactions with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The latest release of millions of documents relating to the late Epstein prompted the former ambassador to the US to resign his Labour membership, citing a wish not to “cause further embarrassment” to the party.
But intense scrutiny of Lord Mandelson’s conduct is set to continue, with the prospect of further, potentially damaging, information emerging.
Lord Mandelson has made a career of comebacks – from spin doctor to returning to cabinet after quitting twice – but he was axed as the UK’s top diplomat in Washington last year over his friendship with Epstein.
As Sir Keir Starmer’s ambassador to the US, he was the first political appointment to the role in decades and took on the role as Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Mr Mandelson started out as a Labour communications director in 1985 and was first elected as an MP in 1992. He served in the cabinets of Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
The Labour grandee resigned twice from cabinet, in 1998 and 2001, became Britain’s European commissioner between 2004 and 2008, and then made an astonishing return in 2008 under Mr Brown, who made him a peer to become business secretary.
A linchpin of the New Labour project from its birth in the early 1990s, Lord Mandelson witnessed and participated in the feuds that dominated much of its 13 years in power.
His ability to manipulate the levers of power from the shadows earned him monikers such as “the Prince of Darkness” and “the Dark Lord”.
His first departure from the Department of Trade and Industry in 1998 came after it emerged he had received a £373,000 home loan from then paymaster general Geoffrey Robinson.
He returned to the cabinet as Northern Ireland secretary in 1999 but quit again in 2001 as he became embroiled in the Hinduja affair.
He had been accused of helping one of the Indian billionaire Hinduja brothers get a British passport in return for a £1 million donation to the Millennium Dome.
Despite being cleared by an inquiry of any impropriety in the case, his Westminster career looked finished and he became a European commissioner in Brussels.
Mr Brown recalled him to the cabinet table as business secretary in October 2008, in a move widely seen as an attempt by the then-PM to shield himself from Blairite criticism as he came increasingly under fire.
Lord Mandelson was chief strategist for Labour in London in the 2010 election while Mr Brown toured the country.
A vocal critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, Lord Mandelson then provided advice to Sir Keir as he sought to win power.
He was named Sir Keir’s ambassador to the US in December ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Lord Mandelson’s trade experience was seen as a strength amid the US president’s pledge to impose wide-ranging tariffs and he has been involved in negotiations to ease their impact on the UK.
Questions had been raised about his links to Epstein in recent years, but new reports revealed that he had supported the disgraced US financier while he was being investigated for sexual offences.
Reports in both The Sun and Bloomberg revealed emails in which Lord Mandelson told Epstein he was “following you closely and here whenever you need” and urged him to “remember the Art of War” when dealing with prosecutors.
The peer is also reported to have told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and told him, “I think the world of you” the day before he began his sentence.
Lord Mandelson said he regretted “very, very deeply indeed carrying on” his association with the financier “for far longer than I should have done”, speaking to The Sun’s Harry Cole Saves The West programme.
At the time, Sir Keir insisted he had “confidence” in his ambassador.
But growing pressure led to the Prime Minister removing him from the role – marking what was seen as a departure from political life that even Lord Mandelson would not be able to bounce back from.
With the latest release of documents, Lord Mandelson appears to now be facing an even more daunting challenge.
While business secretary, email exchanges from December 2009 suggest Lord Mandelson was lobbying to change a tax on bankers’ bonuses, with encouragement from Epstein.
The emails came at the time the so-called “super tax” was being introduced by then-chancellor Alistair Darling, to clamp down on bank profits being used to pay large bonuses for bankers in the wake of the financial crisis.
An email dated December 15 2009, which appears to be from Epstein, reads: “Any real chance of making the tax only on the cash portion of the bankers bonus.”
The reply, apparently from Lord Mandelson, said he was “trying hard to amend”, adding: “Treasury digging in but I am on case.”
One email discussion indicates Lord Mandelson encouraged JP Morgan’s boss Jamie Dimon to call Mr Darling and “mildly threaten” him.
Correspondence first reported by Tax Policy Associates show internal discussions from the heart of Gordon Brown’s government were passed to Epstein in 2009.
One was an analysis of business lending in August 2009 drawn up by government minister Baroness Vadera.
The sender of the email to Epstein has been redacted, but Lord Mandelson was involved in the discussions.
In an earlier email, Lord Mandelson wrote to Epstein in June 2009, describing an “interesting note that’s gone to the PM”, forwarding an assessment of business confidence and potential policy measures.
Meanwhile, Bank statements from 2003 and 2004 appeared to show he received payments totalling 75,000 US dollars (£54,735) from the financier, and Epstein is also said to have paid for an osteopathy course for Lord Mandelson’s husband.
With opposition parties calling for a strong response, the Government has now confirmed it will act.
Sir Keir Starmer believes Lord Mandelson “should not be a member of the House of Lords” and has asked the Cabinet Secretary to “urgently” review all available information on contact between the former minister and Jeffrey Epstein, Downing Street said on Monday.
