Peter Mandelson

Peter Mandelson is a British Labour politician, the grandson of the Labour Cabinet minister Herbert Morrison, and one of the architects of the party's "New Labour" return to power under Tony Blair in 1997. He held senior posts under Blair from 1997 to 2001, was the European Union's trade commissioner, returned to government under Gordon Brown as business secretary from 2008 to 2010, and was appointed to the House of Lords for life in 2008.¹ Prime Minister Keir Starmer made him ambassador to the United States at the start of Donald Trump's second term and dismissed him on September 11, 2025 after the publication of his emails to Jeffrey Epstein.¹² In an internal review completed in 2019, JPMorgan's compliance staff described him as one of the two people with whom Epstein appeared to maintain "a particularly close relationship," and listed him among the people Epstein referred to the bank.³ After the Justice Department's January 30, 2026 release of Epstein files, the Metropolitan Police opened an investigation into whether he passed confidential government information to Epstein while a minister, and arrested him on February 23, 2026; he has denied wrongdoing and does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.¹⁴⁵

Career

Mandelson twice resigned from Blair's government over allegations of financial or ethical impropriety, acknowledging mistakes but denying wrongdoing.¹ The second resignation, in 2001, concerned allegations that he had helped an Indian billionaire obtain a British passport; an official inquiry cleared him of wrongdoing.² Between his two periods in government he served as the European Union's trade commissioner, and from 2008 to 2010 he was Brown's business secretary.¹

Starmer named him ambassador in Washington at the start of Trump's second term, and he helped negotiate the May 2025 trade agreement that spared Britain some of Trump's tariffs.¹

JPMorgan's "Project Jeep" Review

After Epstein's July 2019 arrest, JPMorgan's compliance staff reviewed his correspondence with the bank's executives under the code name "Project Jeep." Its October 2019 summary, quoted by the United States Virgin Islands in its 2023 suit against the bank, stated: "Jeffrey Epstein appears to maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew the [Duke] of York and Lord Peter Mandelson, a senior member of the British Government. He also appears to have a close relationship with Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem who is a senior UAE official involved in ownership of the Dubai Ports." The Virgin Islands told Judge Jed Rakoff that the summary confirmed "more than four pages of Epstein referrals to JPMorgan," including Andrew Farkas, Boris Nikolic, Bill Gates, and Mandelson; JPMorgan's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, had said at deposition: "We did not need introductions to anybody."³

Dismissal as Ambassador

A "birthday book" for Epstein, given to Congress by his estate, contained a handwritten message from Mandelson calling Epstein his "best pal."² On September 10, 2025 The Sun published emails Mandelson sent Epstein after his 2006 indictment, including a 2008 message reading, "I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened," and another reading, "Your friends stay with you and love you." Mandelson said in a television interview that day that he now regarded Epstein as "a charismatic criminal liar" and said, "I regret very much that I fell for his lies." On September 11 the Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told Parliament that Mandelson had been withdrawn with immediate effect; the Foreign Office said the emails showed that the depth and extent of the relationship was "materially different" from what had been known at his appointment, and singled out his suggestion that Epstein's conviction was wrongful and should be challenged. The dismissal came less than a day after Starmer told Parliament he had confidence in him. The deputy head of mission, James Roscoe, replaced him.²

The 2026 Release and the Police Investigation

The files released on January 30, 2026 included bank documents suggesting that in 2003 and 2004 Epstein sent three payments totaling 75,000 dollars to accounts linked to Mandelson or to his partner. Mandelson said he did not remember receiving the money and would investigate whether the documents were authentic. In 2009 Epstein paid 10,000 pounds toward an osteopathy course for his partner; Mandelson told The Times that "in retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgment" to accept it.⁴ The messages also showed that in 2009, as business secretary, Mandelson appeared to tell Epstein he would lobby colleagues to reduce a tax on bankers' bonuses, and sent him an internal government report on ways to raise money after the 2008 financial crisis, including by selling government assets, with the note, "Interesting note that's gone to the PM." In May 2010 he wrote to Epstein that "sources tell me 500 b euro bailout" was almost complete, hours before European governments announced a 500 billion euro rescue of the single currency.⁴ He also appeared to tell Epstein in advance that Brown would resign in 2010.⁵

Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party on February 1, 2026, saying he did not want to cause it "further embarrassment." Starmer's spokesman said the government had sent the police its assessment that the documents contained "likely market-sensitive information" that should not have left government. On February 3 the Metropolitan Police said, through Commander Ella Marriott, that it had "launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former government minister, for misconduct in public office offenses"; the same day Mandelson announced his retirement from the House of Lords, effective February 4, as the government prepared legislation to remove him.⁴ Police searched addresses in Camden and Wiltshire, and on February 23, 2026 arrested him in Camden on suspicion of misconduct in public office; he was released on bail early the next morning.¹⁵ His solicitors, Mishcon de Reya, said the arrest had been "prompted by a baseless suggestion" that he intended to flee and "take up permanent residence abroad," said "There is absolutely no truth whatsoever in any such suggestion," and said his "overriding priority is to cooperate with the police investigation, as he has done throughout this process, and to clear his name."⁵ Brown assisted the police with their inquiries.¹ Four days before Mandelson's arrest, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had been arrested by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of the same offense in connection with his work as trade envoy.¹