The disgraced former spin doctor, Lord Peter Mandelson, has been a one-man wrecking ball demolishing the integrity of successive UK Labour governments for over 30 years. The latest revelation in the Epstein files—that he emailed market-sensitive intelligence to the late financier during the 2008–10 financial crisis—is only the most recent scandal to center on the man often described by the press, and even by some Labour MPs, as “the Prince of Darkness.”
The former Prime Minister Tony Blair famously said his job reforming the Labour Party would only be complete once it accepted Mandelson’s value. As head of communications, he masterminded the party’s abandonment of state socialism and its rebirth as a centrist party in the 1990s. His fatal attraction also ensnared Blair’s successor, Gordon Brown, and now, most seriously, the present Labour prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer.
At Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons today, Starmer admitted that he had appointed Mandelson to the post of U.S. ambassador in 2024 even though he knew that Mandelson had continued his relationship with Epstein after the latter had been convicted of procuring underage girls for sexual services. Starmer sacked Mandelson from the post in 2025 after a slew of further revelations about his involvement with his “best pal.”
But that only raises serious questions about the prime minister’s judgment in appointing him in the first place. Opposition parties believe there is much more to learn about the way in which Mandelson was vetted—or not vetted—for this vital ambassadorial role, and are demanding full disclosure.
The Epstein affair is no longer a scandal involving the British royal family and the disgraced former Prince Andrew. It is now a political, diplomatic, and criminal crisis engulfing the UK Labour government. It is first of all a profound embarrassment for Britain to have to admit that it appointed Mandelson to the most important diplomatic post in the prime minister’s gift. Starmer today described him as a man who “repeatedly lied [and] betrayed our country and our party.” Mandelson’s activities are now being investigated by the police for possible misconduct in public office—a particularly serious offense, albeit rare and difficult to prosecute, that carries with it a potential life sentence.
The mystery puzzling shell-shocked Labour MPs today is why Starmer appointed Mandelson to this position in the first place. He had, as many have said, more baggage than Heathrow Airport. Mandelson first resigned from a Cabinet post nearly 30 years ago, in 1998, after it was revealed that he had accepted a £400,000 loan from businessman Geoffrey Robinson and failed to declare it on the register of members’ interests.
He famously said he was “a fighter, not a quitter” after being rehabilitated by Tony Blair two years later as Northern Ireland secretary. However, he resigned from that Cabinet post in 2001 after it was disclosed that he had lobbied on behalf of the wealthy Indian businessmen, the Hinduja brothers, in their quest for British citizenship.
That was not the end of Mandelson’s career. He was almost immediately appointed by Blair as a trade commissioner in Brussels. He then came winging back into the UK Cabinet in 2008 as business secretary, after being ennobled by Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown as Baron Mandelson of Foy and Hartlepool. Brown appeared to regard him as a valuable aide and fixer during the 2008–10 financial crisis.
Yet we now know that all the while he was betraying the trust of the prime minister and the cabinet by leaking highly sensitive intelligence about the UK and EU governments’ handling of the financial crisis. The files suggest that he informed Epstein in advance of a €500 billion EU bank bailout. He kept Epstein advised about British government asset sales and about the government’s taxation and spending plans. He even allegedly advised Epstein on how to combat UK government plans to impose a supertax on bank bonuses by being “mildly threatening” to the then–Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling.
These and other tip-offs could clearly have been exploited by Epstein and his associates to move markets. Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice also appear to show that, in 2003–04, Mandelson received $75,000 in cash from Epstein’s JP Morgan bank account, although Mandelson says he has no record of this. There are records, however, of a £10,000 loan forwarded to his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, in 2009.
The documentation has now been handed to the Metropolitan Police, who are investigating Mandelson for alleged misconduct in public office and abuse of trust. Opposition MPs argue that Mandelson should be prosecuted for market abuse if he did indeed leak plans for the UK government’s sale of £20 billion in assets. There is also the question of the Official Secrets Act, since Mandelson appears to have released classified intelligence that could have damaged the national interest.
These charges are difficult to prove. But judging by the manner in which Mandelson was castigated by the prime minister today, it is clear that the government regards him as tantamount to a traitor and expects him to face the full force of the law. Mandelson has already resigned from the Labour Party and from the House of Lords. He is now in a state of disgraced limbo.
But what MPs are quietly pointing out is that Mandelson is not called the Prince of Darkness for nothing. He has intimate knowledge of 30 years of Labour governance at the highest levels. He knows where the party’s bodies are buried and which skeletons are locked in which cupboards. If he decides to retaliate through judicious briefings about scandals known and unknown, he could bury the career of the man who is already the most unpopular Labour leader in history: Sir Keir Starmer.
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