Bad news for Starmer with new trove of Mandelson files
His ratings in the polls are dismal and his rivals are taking care of his business.
Now British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces further embarrassment on Monday with the release of hundreds of pages of dossiers on former British Ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson and friend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The government is expected to comply with MPs’ request to release documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment to the UK’s most important diplomatic post and his role there.
Mandelson was fired nine months later and the fallout from the misjudged appointment left Starmer fighting for his job.
The first files, released in March, revealed that ministers were warned that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein exposed the government to “reputation risk”.
It was later announced that Mandelson had been approved for ambassadorial duty despite the failure of security checks; This led to a bitter exchange of accusations between Starmer and senior civil servants overseeing the vetting.
The files released Monday may run to more than 1,000 pages and are expected to include emails and text messages between Mandelson and government ministers and advisers.
Police requested that some documents be withheld because they were part of a criminal investigation into Mandelson for alleged abuse of public office.
Mandelson, 72, was briefly arrested in February by detectives investigating allegations that he passed sensitive government information to Epstein while he was a British government minister fifteen years ago.
He was released without bail while the police investigation continued.
Health Secretary James Murray said the announcement marked “unprecedented” transparency from the government
“It’s right that we did this. We were very clear that the appointment of Mandelson was wrong,” he told Sky News on Monday.
Conservative MP Alex Burghart said any attempt to withhold or redact more documents than police had requested “would be viewed by the House as disrespectful of Parliament and by the British public as a cover-up”.
Starmer fired Mandelson in September 2025 after previously released documents showed the financier maintained contact with Epstein following his 2008 conviction for sexual offenses involving a minor.
Critics say Starmer’s decision to appoint Mandelson is evidence of poor judgment by a prime minister who has made repeated missteps since leading the centre-left Labor Party to a landslide election victory in July 2024.
Details of Mandelson’s ties to Epstein, revealed in multiple dossiers released by the US Department of Justice in January, raised new questions about Starmer’s decision, prompting opponents and some Labor MPs to call for the prime minister’s resignation.
These calls intensified after the Labor Party suffered major losses in the local elections in May. Wes Streeting, a senior cabinet minister, resigned in a bid to challenge Starmer for the Labor leadership.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is running for a seat in parliament in the by-elections on June 18 and is expected to challenge Starmer if he wins.
