The relationship between British politician Peter Mandelson and the American child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein spanned from at least 2002 to 2011, continuing after Epstein's first conviction in 2008. Their friendship had been public knowledge, but a fresh wave of scrutiny and public outrage erupted in September 2025 following the release of US court documents and a cache of private emails between the two men by the US House Oversight Committee. The backlash created a political scandal in the United Kingdom with significant ramifications for the governing British Labour Party and prime minister Keir Starmer, who soon dismissed Mandelson as the British Ambassador to the United States and oversaw his resignation from the Labour Party and from the House of Lords.
The Epstein files revealed the depth and nature of their relationship. Mandelson called Epstein his "best pal" in a 2003 birthday book message; had reportedly expressed support for Epstein following his 2008 conviction in Florida for soliciting prostitution from a minor; allegedly told Epstein he "thought the world of him" and advised him to "fight for early release" from his 18-month sentence; reportedly had his travel paid for by Epstein in 2003; received payments from Epstein alongside his husband; and alleged that, in 2009–10, he passed on confidential government information to Epstein amid the 2008 financial crisis while Mandelson was serving as business secretary in the Gordon Brown ministry.
Starmer and the then-foreign secretary David Lammy announced Mandelson's appointment as British Ambassador to the United States in December 2024 to strengthen the government's relationship with incoming US president Donald Trump. In September 2025, amid the first releases of the Epstein files, the British government claimed that newly published emails provided "materially different" information about the extent of the Mandelson–Epstein relationship, and dismissed Mandelson as ambassador. In February 2026, Starmer told the House of Commons that Mandelson "betrayed our country, our Parliament, and my party. He lied repeatedly" and that he regretted appointing him.
The scandal brought down several other government figures, including Starmer's Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney who took responsibility for Mandelson's appointment, and Olly Robbins, a top civil servant in the Foreign Office. Several people have called on Starmer to resign as a result of the scandal, including Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch who called the prime minister's position "untenable", Ed Davey (Liberal Democrats leader), Nigel Farage (Reform UK leader), Zack Polanski (Green Party leader), Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru parliamentary leader), and John Swinney (First Minister of Scotland and SNP leader).
Mandelson was stripped of honorary awards and titles, and for his part expressed deep regret for the association, claiming he was "taken in" by a "charismatic criminal liar", and profoundly sympathised with Epstein's victims. Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party and from the House of Lords, and the Metropolitan Police launched a criminal investigation into alleged misconduct in a public office. On 23 February 2026, Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and then released on bail pending further investigation.
In April 2026, it was reported that Mandelson had been denied security clearance by security vetting back in January 2025. A government spokesperson said "the decision to grant developed vetting to Peter Mandelson against the recommendation of UK Security Vetting was taken by officials in the FCDO". Starmer said he was not told that he had failed security vetting, and denied claims that he had misled the House of Commons. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper dismissed the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office Olly Robbins, who said he had been put under "serious pressure" to push through the appointment at a summons to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
Background
2002–2011
Mandelson was a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier who pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18 in 2008, and was arrested again on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in 2019, later dying in custody. They were friends while Mandelson was serving as a cabinet minister under Labour prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The friendship lasted at least from 2002 to 2011, continuing even after Epstein's first conviction in 2008. Amid the wider "Epstein scandal" in 2019, UK's Channel 4 aired an episode of Dispatches in which a source close to Epstein said that Mandelson, while serving as a cabinet minister, made a phone call to Epstein in order to set up a meeting with Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan. In June 2023, an internal JPMorgan report from 2019, filed with a New York court, found that "Jeffrey Epstein appears to maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew the Duke of York and Lord Peter Mandelson, a senior member of the British government." In 2024, a picture of Mandelson with Epstein on his private island Little Saint James resurfaced in court documents. In September 2025 it emerged that an internal report by JPMorgan suggested that, in 2009, Mandelson stayed at Epstein's Manhattan apartment while Epstein was serving his 18-month prison sentence for soliciting prostitution.
According to reports in September 2025, Mandelson flew on Epstein's private jet, the Lolita Express, on at least one occasion. A former Epstein employee, Valdson Vieira Cotrin, recalls Mandelson flying with Epstein on his private jet. The trip, in the early 2000s, was from St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands to New York. A former employee believes Epstein made a short helicopter trip to meet Mandelson while he was staying on a nearby island.
Additionally, Epstein paid for commercial flights for Mandelson. Financial records from the US House of Representatives Oversight Committee show that Epstein paid for two commercial flights for Mandelson in April 2003, totalling more than $7,400 (£5,400). Emails from October 2005 show that, after Mandelson complained to Epstein about a lack of British Airways air miles, Epstein offered to pay for his plane tickets to the Caribbean. It is unknown if Mandelson accepted the offer. It also emerged that in 2002, Mandelson encouraged Prime Minister Tony Blair to meet Epstein, and that during his time as business secretary, Mandelson reportedly asked Epstein to broker a deal for the sale of a UK taxpayer-owned banking business. Documents concerning Mandelson's 2002 memo and advice to Blair on Epstein were set to be released from the National Archives in September 2025 but were withheld due to an "international relations" exemption.
Payments from Epstein In January 2026, a release of documents relating to Epstein showed Mandelson and his boyfriend (since October 2023 husband) Reinaldo Avila da Silva received upwards of $75,000 in three payments from Epstein, the first of such payments having been made to Mandelson in 2003 and the last in 2004.
According to the documents, Avila da Silva was sent thousands of pounds between 2009 and 2010 as Epstein put the Cabinet minister's boyfriend on a monthly stipend of $4,000 (£2,950), sent directly to his personal bank account.
Support of Epstein
On 9 September 2025, the US House Oversight Committee published a series of documents from Epstein's estate, which included a letter written by Mandelson to Epstein in 2003. The letter was part of a birthday book compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell, for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. Within that letter, Mandelson described Epstein as an "intelligent sharp-witted man" and as "my best pal". A number of pictures of Mandelson, including one with Epstein, were published alongside the letter. Alongside one picture of Mandelson with two women, whose faces are obscured, he writes about meeting Epstein's interesting – in inverted commas – friends.
On 10 September 2025, further communication from Mandelson to Epstein was published widely, including an email sent in June 2008 after Epstein's conviction for soliciting prostitution from someone aged under 18 and before his sentencing, where he wrote: When asked about the email, Mandelson responded: "I relied on assurances of his innocence that turned out later to be horrendously false."
Alleged government leaks to Epstein
On 13 June 2009, Mandelson allegedly leaked to Epstein a high-level Downing Street document that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour's tax policy plans. The memo was written on 13 June 2009 by Nick Butler, who was a special adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2009 to 2010. A December 2009 email from Mandelson appeared to suggest that JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon should "mildly threaten" Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling over a bankers' bonus tax; the pressure was reportedly exerted through references to the role of US banks as buyers of UK gilts, as well as investment plans in London.
On 31 March 2010, Mandelson allegedly forwarded confidential minutes of a meeting between Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and the director of the US National Economic Council, Larry Summers, five minutes after he received them, which discussed new banking regulation and taxation that Summers wanted to see, in addition to discussion on how the US should engage with France and Germany. The following day, 1 April 2010, Mandelson met with Larry Summers, and forwarded the minutes of his meeting two minutes after he received them.
On 9 May 2010, Mandelson gave Epstein advance notice of a €500bn bailout from the EU to save the euro. On 10 May 2010, Mandelson emailed Epstein saying "finally got him to go today", with Brown resigning the following day. In another email on 10 May 2010, Mandelson appeared to reveal to Epstein the existence of a secret underground tunnel between 10 Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence.
On 3 February 2026, London's Metropolitan Police announced that they would formally launch a criminal investigation into Mandelson. It was also reported that Mandelson had lobbied the Barack Obama administration in March 2010, to water down proposed restrictions on US bank trading activities, on behalf of Epstein and Jes Staley.
Concerns to Starmer Mandelson was nominated as HM Ambassador to the United States by Starmer in December 2024, primarily to provide a "political heavyweight" presence capable of navigating a second Donald Trump administration and to manage potential trade tariffs and economic friction. His existing high-level connections to figures like Elon Musk and Scott Bessent were viewed at the time as vital assets for building influence within the new administration's inner circle. In February 2025, Starmer jokingly compared Mandelson to Trump: "He’s a true one-off, a pioneer in business, in politics. Many people love him. Others love to hate him. But to us, he's just... Peter." Following Mandelson's appointment, the security services allegedly shared concerns with Starmer but he was nevertheless appointed. The Cabinet Office carried out a due diligence check on Mandelson, but the appointment was announced before an in-depth security vetting was conducted.
It was later revealed that Starmer explicitly asked Mandelson three specific questions regarding his links to Epstein before deciding to appoint him. These questions were: "Why has he continued contact with Epstein after he was convicted, why was he reported to have stayed in one of Epstein's homes while the financier was in prison, and why was he associated with a charity founded by Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell that the financier had backed". Subsequently, the consultancy Global Counsel effectively disassociated itself from its co-founder by planning the sale of Mandelson's multimillion-pound stake over the following few months.