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LAST UPDATE | 11 Sep 2025
PETER MANDELSON HAS said that he “deeply regrets” the circumstances that have led to him being sacked from his post as the British Ambassador to the US.
He was fired by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer after a series of emails and messages of support surfaced this week demonstrating support for paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson today said that serving as the UK’s ambassador to the US has been the “privilege of my life”, according to a letter to embassy staff reported by the BBC.
In the letter he thanked staff for their professionalism, saying it was “superb, more so than I have experienced in any public role”.
The letter added: “The circumstances surrounding the announcement today are ones which I deeply regret. I continue to feel utterly awful about my association with Epstein 20 years ago and the plight of his victims.
“I have no alternative to accepting the Prime Minister’s decision and will leave a position in which I have been so incredibly honoured to serve.”
Before signing off with thanks from his husband and dog, he added that the UK-US relationship was in “a really good condition, with a magnificent State Visit and the new US-UK technology partnership – my personal pride and joy that will help write the next chapter of the special relationship – set for next week”.
The emails came on foot of a resurfaced birthday message in which Mandelson called the late Epstein his “best pal”.
Mandelson’s words could be seen in a 2003 “birthday book” compiled by convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, which was published by the House Oversight Committee in the US following a request for documents from the Epstein estate.
It is being reported this evening that Downing Street ignored security concerns that were flagged by the British security services before Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US.
Asked about this, a spokesperson for Starmer said Downing Street was not involved in the security vetting process.
“No 10 was not involved in the security vetting process. This is managed at departmental level by the agency responsible and any suggestion that No 10 was involved is untrue,” the spokesperson said.
Starmer asked for Mandelson to be withdrawn as the UK’s ambassador to the US this morning.
Speaking in response to an urgent question in the House of Commons this morning, Foreign Minister Stephen Doughty said: “In light of the additional information in the emails written by Peter Mandelson, the Prime Minister has asked the Foreign Secretary to withdraw him as ambassador to the United States.
“The emails show, Mr Speaker, that the depth and extent of Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.”
Starmer had expressed support for Mandelson in the House of Commons only yesterday before his U-turn today.
It caps a grim week for the Labour leader, having lost his deputy leader Angela Rayner only last week.
Mandelson, who has been involved with the Labour Party stretching back to the 1980s, when he served as communications director, has had a political career bedevilled by controversy.
First elected as an MP in 1992, he served in British government cabinets under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown – but he had to resign twice from cabinet over scandals.
His ability to manipulate the levers of power from the shadows earned him outlandish monikers from the UK press, such as “the Prince of Darkness” and “the Dark Lord”.
It also perhaps helped him stay in powerful positions, including as when he was appointed as a European commissioner following one of his cabinet resignations.
His first departure from the Department of Trade and Industry in 1998 came after it emerged he had received a £373,000 home loan from a fellow member of government.
He returned to the cabinet as Northern Ireland secretary in 1999 but quit again in 2001 after he became embroiled in a new controversy.
He had been accused of helping an Indian billionaire get a British passport – in return for a £1 million donation to London’s Millennium Dome, now known as The O2.
Despite being cleared by an inquiry of any impropriety in the case, his Westminster career looked finished and he was next packed off to a European commissioner position in Brussels.
However, in October 2008, Brown recalled him to the cabinet table as business secretary, in a move widely seen as an attempt by the then-PM to shield himself from Blairite criticism as he came increasingly under fire.
Mandelson made his latest comeback – and perhaps his last – when he was named Starmer’s ambassador to the US in December ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
A vocal critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, Mandelson had previously provided advice to Starmer as he sought to win power in the party.
Mandelson’s trade experience was seen as a strength amid the US president’s pledge to impose wide-ranging tariffs and he has been involved in negotiations to ease their impact on the UK.
But questions were raised about his links to Epstein in recent years, which were dismissed.
In one interview with the Financial Times last February, Mandelson said he regretted the hurt his late friend had “caused to many young women”, but shut down further questions on the issue.
Mandelson told the newspaper:
I’m not going to go into this. It’s an FT obsession and frankly you can all fuck off.
Seven months on, new reports revealed that Mandelson had supported the disgraced US financier while he was being investigated for sexual offences.
Reports in Bloomberg revealed emails in which Mandelson told Epstein he was “following you closely and here whenever you need” and urged him to “remember the Art of War” when dealing with prosecutors.
The peer is also reported to have told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and told him, “I think the world of you” the day before he began his sentence.
Mandelson said he regretted “very, very deeply indeed carrying on” his association with the financier “for far longer than I should have done”, speaking to The Sun’s Harry Cole Saves The West programme.
Starmer insisted only yesterday that he had “confidence” in his ambassador, with a visit from the US president due next week, during which Mandelson was expected to play a role as ambassador.
But growing pressure led to the Prime Minister removing him from the role – marking a departure from political life that even Mandelson may not be able to come back from.
With reporting by PA
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