UK Police Arrest Former Envoy to US Mandelson Over Epstein Ties

Both men are suspected of improperly passing UK government information to the disgraced US financier, and the high-profile British arrests are some of the most dramatic results of a trove of more than 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents released by the US Department of Justice last month.

London’s Metropolitan Police force said “officers arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office” at an address in north London. He was taken to the police station for questioning.

The man’s name was not released in line with British police practice, but the suspect in the case was previously identified as a 72-year-old former diplomat. Mandelson was filmed being taken from his home in London to a car by plainclothes police officers on Monday afternoon.

According to UK law, police can detain a suspect without charge for up to 24 hours. This period can be extended up to a maximum of 96 hours. Mandelson could be charged, released unconditionally, or released while investigations continue.

Allegations of leaking government information Police are investigating Mandelson over allegations he passed sensitive government information to Epstein fifteen years ago. He is not facing sexual abuse allegations.

His arrest comes four days after former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested in a separate case on suspicion of a similar crime related to his friendship with Epstein. Andrew was released after being detained for 11 hours while the police investigation continued.

Mandelson had served in senior government roles under previous Labor governments and was the UK’s ambassador to Washington until Prime Minister Keir Starmer fired him in September after emails were published showing he maintained a friendship with Epstein after the latter was convicted in 2008 for sexual offenses involving a minor.

The files, released in January, contained more graphic revelations about Mandelson’s ties to Epstein, whom he once called his “best friend.”

The messages show that Mandelson passed sensitive and potentially market-moving government information to Epstein in 2009, when he was a senior minister in the British government. These include an internal government report discussing ways Britain could raise money after the 2008 global financial crisis, including selling government assets. Mandelson also appears to have told Epstein that he would lobby other members of the government to lower the tax on bankers’ bonuses.

British police launched a criminal investigation earlier this month and searched two of Mandelson’s homes in London and western England.

The decision to appoint Mandelson nearly cost Starmer his job earlier this month; because questions swirled around their judgment of someone who has flirted with controversy throughout his decades-long political career.

Despite admitting he made a mistake and apologizing to Epstein’s victims, Starmer’s situation remains precarious. Its future may depend on the release of files on Mandelson’s appointment. The government has promised to release these documents in early March, but the timeline could be complicated by his arrest.

Mandelson a contentious figure Mandelson has been an important, if controversial, figure in the centre-left Labor Party for decades. He is a skilled—critics say ruthless—political operator whose mastery of political intrigue has earned him the nickname “Prince of Darkness.”

The grandson of former Labor Cabinet minister Herbert Morrison, he was the architect of the party’s centrist return to power in 1997, modernizing “New Labour” under Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mandelson served in senior government positions under Blair from 1997 to 2001 and under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2008 to 2010. Meanwhile, he served as the European Union’s commissioner for trade. Brown was particularly outraged by these revelations and assisted the police with investigations.

Mandelson was twice forced to resign from the government during the Blair administration over allegations of financial or ethical impropriety; he acknowledged mistakes but denied wrongdoing.

He later returned to government and returned to the political front when Starmer appointed him ambassador to Washington at the start of US President Donald Trump’s second term. Mandelson’s trading expertise and comfort around the ultra-rich were seen as important assets. In May, he helped seal a trade deal that exempted Britain from some of the tariffs Trump imposed on countries around the world.

The status of the deal remains unclear after Trump announced a new set of global tariffs following the US Supreme Court’s decision overturning the previous import tariff decision.

Earlier this month, Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament, to which he was given a life appointment in 2008. However, he still bears the title of Lord Mandelson.