Former ambassador to the United States Lord Peter ‘Prince of Darkness’ Mandelson will resign from the House of Lords following the release of emails with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, which the Metropolitan Police said they are reviewing.
Revelations from the document dump the U.S. Department of Justice are making major waves across the Atlantic, imperilling the political future of the prime minister himself, and potentially leading to a criminal investigation of one of Britain’s most prominent political operatives.
Mandelson, the scion of a left-wing political dynasty, who rose to prominence as the “Prince of Darkness” spin doctor for former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, has been a mainstay in left-wing politics in Britain for decades, most recently serving as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s ambassador to the United States before being sacked in September over his ties to Epstein.
On Sunday evening, Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party, and following government pressure, including from Prime Minister Starmer, informed parliamentary officials on Tuesday that he would resign from the House of Lords, according to Lord Speaker Forsyth.
“My Lords, given the public interest and for the convenience of the House, I have decided to inform the House that the Clerk of the Parliaments has today received notification from Lord Mandelson of his intention to retire from the House effective from 4 February,” he said per the BBC.
Despite this, Mandelson will retain the title of Lord unless parliamentarians pass legislation to strip him of the honour, or if he renounces the bauble himself.
His resignation will likely not end the growing scandal, however, with questions circulating in Westminster about the decision to appoint Mandelson to such a senior position despite his relationship with Epstein and previous history of probity scandals.
Speculation has swirled about Starmer’s powerful chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, potentially being set to take a fall for the move; however, others have openly questioned whether the scandal may take down Starmer himself.
There may be more serious ramifications for Mandelson, however, with the peer being reported to the police by the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. The Metropolitan Police said they are reviewing evidence from U.S. documents to determine whether a criminal investigation is warranted.
Among the documents released by the DoJ were emails between Epstein and Mandelson when he was serving as business secretary under former Labour Party Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The exchanges appeared to show the British cabinet minister providing confidential government information to the financier ahead of significant economic developments.
This included Mandelson allegedly informing Epstein of a €500 billion bailout for the euro currency days before it occurred. Other emails appeared to show the then business secretary assuring Epstein that he would lobby against planned tax hikes on banker bonuses and advising Epstein that JP Morgan should “mildly threaten” the UK finance minister to force the government to back down.
Separately, U.S. documents appeared to show that Epstein sent Lord Mandelson $75,000 (£55,000) in three payments of $25,000 between 2003 and 2004, and paid Lord Mandelson’s husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, £10,000 in 2009.
Confirming that the police are reviewing the evidence against Mandelson, Met commander Ella Marriott said : “We are aware of the further release of millions of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein by the United States Department of Justice.
“Following this release and subsequent media reporting, the Met has received a number of reports relating to alleged misconduct in a public office. The reports will all be reviewed to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.”
A government spokesperson said: “It is right for the police to determine whether to investigate, and the government stands ready to provide whatever support and assistance the police need.”
