British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was warned in advance that Peter Mandelson's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein posed a serious risk to the British government's reputation, before Mandelson was appointed the United Kingdom's ambassador to the United States.
According to a report prepared by Starmer's team in December 2024, officials had compiled public information about Mandelson's links with Epstein, who was first convicted in 2008 of sex crimes. The document noted that the relationship between them had continued even after this conviction.
The report found that contacts between the two individuals continued during the years 2009–2011. The document also mentions that Mandelson allegedly stayed at Epstein's home in June 2009, at a time when the latter was in prison.
Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the US sparked criticism and strong political backlash. Although his ties to Epstein had been publicly known for years, documents released by the US Department of Justice brought new evidence of the depth and duration of their relationship, which reportedly continued after Epstein's conviction in 2008.
In September, Starmer decided to sack Mandelson after a series of documents were released by US authorities. The release of another batch of files in January sparked a new public backlash, adding to pressure on the Labour government to explain what it knew when it appointed him.
The vetting documents also refer to a 2019 report commissioned by JPMorgan Chase, which cites Epstein's personal records and shows that the relationship between him and Mandelson began in 2002 and continued throughout the 2000s. The report submitted to Starmer stressed that this posed a "general reputational risk."
The files also reveal that Starmer’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, had considered Mandelson’s appointment “unusual.” In a telephone conversation with the prime minister’s lawyer after Mandelson’s dismissal, Powell had expressed concerns about his reputation as a close associate of the prime minister and had said that the appointment process seemed “strangely rushed.”
Another document in the file shows that Mandelson's lawyers had sought payment of the remainder of his four-year ambassadorial contract, which amounted to £547,201 (about $730,000). In the end, he was paid just £75,000, about $100,000.
Last month, British police arrested Mandelson on suspicion of misconduct. He was released after questioning but remains under investigation. Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing and has previously said he was “deeply shocked” by his friendship with Epstein and the suffering of his victims.
