Starmer-Mandelson latest: Met Police searching two properties linked to ex-Lord amid Epstein investigation 

The lobbying firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson has cut all ties with the former US ambassador and announced that its boss, Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, will resign.

Global Counsel said Lord Mandelson had been stripped of his stake in the business and no longer had any influence over it. The business disposed of its shares and ended all connections with him.

Co-founder and CEO Wegg-Prosser said he left the organization because it was “time to draw a line” between the firm and Lord Mandelson’s “actions.”

General manager Rebecca Park replaced him as head of the company, and his page on the company’s website has already been removed. Ms Park also purchased the remaining shares held by Lord Mandelson.

Chairman Archie Norman said: “With the completion of this process today, Peter Mandelson no longer has any shareholding, role or involvement in Global Counsel and has no influence over the firm in any capacity.

“Global Counsel is independently owned and operated and continues to focus on serving its clients with integrity and professionalism.”

Lord Mandelson co-founded the London-based firm with Mr Wegg-Prosser in 2010 after Labor lost the general election but left the board about two years ago.

Before working as a director at a Russian media firm, Mr Wegg-Prosser worked as a political adviser and director of strategic communications under former prime minister Tony Blair.

Global Counsel has worked with a wide range of clients including Palantir, GSK, Vodafone, OpenAI, TikTok and the English Premier League.

Barclays also cut ties with Global Counsel during the review.

Pierce was already doing an excellent job before Mandelson was appointed as the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Washington.

Eleanor Mills He says the current scandal is a self-inflicted wound for Keir Starmer and another example of a great woman of a certain age being replaced by one of the boys:

Two men believed to be police officers arrived outside Lord Mandelson’s home near Regent’s Park in central London on Friday afternoon.

One of them was seen wearing a small body camera. They knocked on the door and entered the house.

Shortly afterwards, the two men left Lord Peter Mandelson’s house to collect items in their car.

They collected a blue box and a large bag before re-entering the property near Regent’s Park in central London.

A man has since left Lord Peter Mandelson’s house and got into a car. He declined to comment, including on what was going on inside the residence.

Senior government officials will have to deliver their messages to Peter Mandelson before the release of dossiers on the prime minister’s decision to appoint his former counterpart as US ambassador despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The government is preparing to release Mandelson’s review documents in the hope that transparency will help him weather the political storm threatening his leadership after Sir Keir Starmer apologized to Epstein victims for the appointment.

On Wednesday, the prime minister backtracked and handed control over to parliament’s intelligence and security committee (ISC) to decide what should not be made public due to national security concerns.

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

Mandelson has declared he will not hide “under a rock” despite a series of shocking revelations from his Wiltshire home earlier this week about his relationship with pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

In a bizarre interview published on Monday, conducted before some of the most serious allegations emerged, Mandelson said “hiding under a rock would be a disproportionate response to a handful of misguided historical emails that I deeply regret sending.”

He added: “I, too, was struck by some of the conversations I had and the areas of my life where I sought advice from Epstein.”

She also praised Epstein’s dinner parties and said she remembered nothing about a remarkable photo released as part of the Epstein files that showed her in her underwear.

“He had no idea what I was doing in this photo or who the woman was. It looks like she walked in and showed me something on an iPad,” he said.

Morgan McSweeney, seen as an ally of her disgraced counterpart, is seen as the driving force behind Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.

This was despite Mandelson’s alleged knowledge that their relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein continued after the financier was convicted of child sex crimes.

As the Prime Minister’s right-hand man, Mr McSweeney plays a central role in the government’s strategy and decision-making.

Police are searching addresses in Wiltshire and Camden, north London, as part of an investigation into public misconduct against Lord Peter Mandelson.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Hayley Sewart, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “I can confirm officers from the Met’s Central Crime Specialist team are in the process of executing search warrants at two addresses, one in the Wiltshire area and the other in the Camden area.

“The searches relate to an ongoing investigation into criminal misconduct in public office involving a 72-year-old man.

“He has not been arrested and the investigation is ongoing.”

The Prime Minister’s allies have warned that Angela Rayner’s leadership coup could trigger a general election.

A Labor official who is Sir Keir Starmer’s frontbencher said: Telegram: “Presumably Angela Rayner would have a completely different agenda if elected.