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06-02-2026
LONDON: Police in the United Kingdom have launched an investigation into allegations that political veteran Peter Mandelson committed misconduct in public office in his dealings with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Metropolitan Police made the announcement on Tuesday, hours after Mandelson, London’s former ambassador to the United States, resigned from the UK’s upper house of parliament amid renewed scrutiny of his ties to Epstein.
“I can confirm that the Metropolitan Police has now launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former Government Minister, for misconduct in public office offence,” Metropolitan Police Commander Ella Marriott said in a statement, without naming Mandelson directly.
“The Met will continue to assess all relevant information brought to our attention as part of this investigation and won’t be commenting any further at this time.”
Mandelson, a former government minister and longtime senior figure in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, has come under intense pressure following the release of a new tranche of US government documents related to Epstein.
The material includes emails from Mandelson to Epstein that shared sensitive government information, including plans for the 500 billion euro ($590bn) bailout of the single currency in 2010.
The files also include bank documents suggesting Epstein transferred tens of thousands of dollars to accounts linked to Mandelson or his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva. Mandelson has said he does not recall such transactions and will examine the documents.
Additional material includes emails suggesting a friendly relationship between the two men after Epstein’s 2008 convictions for sex offences, as well as an image showing Mandelson in his underwear beside a woman whose face was obscured by US authorities.
Mandelson told media that he “cannot place the location or the woman, and I cannot think what the circumstances were”.
Starmer is ‘appalled’
Starmer on Tuesday told his cabinet he was “appalled by the information” regarding Mandelson and was concerned more details would come to light, according to a Downing Street readout of the cabinet meeting.
Starmer also said he has ordered the civil service to conduct an “urgent” review of all of Mandelson’s contacts with Epstein while he was in government.
“The alleged passing on of emails of highly sensitive government business was disgraceful,” the prime minister said, adding he was not yet “reassured that the totality of information had yet emerged” regarding Mandelson’s links with Epstein.
Mandelson, who was sacked from his post as ambassador to the US in September following earlier revelations about his Epstein ties, quit the Labour Party on Sunday to avoid what he called “further embarrassment”.
In an interview with The Times, conducted late last month and published on Tuesday, Mandelson described Epstein as a “master manipulator”, adding, “I’ve had a lot of bad luck, no doubt some of it of my own making”.
On 21st September, the United Kingdom has fired Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States over his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has said.
Mandelson, a veteran Labour politician who was key to the party’s success under former leader Tony Blair, came under heavy scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein after a birthday book was released, including a letter purportedly from Mandelson describing Epstein as “my best pal”. (Int’l News Desk)
