“I am a fighter not a quitter,” Peter Mandelson famously declared upon retaining his Hartlepool seat in the 2001 general election.
This statement followed not one, but two cabinet resignations from the then-New Labour government. The first concerned a substantial undeclared loan from a fellow minister, and the second, the contacting of a Home Office minister regarding a passport application for a wealthy Indian businessman who had contributed to the funding of the Millennium Dome (now the O2).
Mandelson subsequently resurrected his front-rank political career on three occasions: as an EU commissioner; as business secretary and de facto deputy prime minister to Gordon Brown in 2009; and as ambassador to Washington in 2025.
That third resignation – or, more accurately, dismissal – is almost certainly going to be his last.
While the previous release of the Epstein files focused on the political and personal imprudence of Lord Mandelson continuing to associate with a convicted sex offender, the latest revelations raise questions regarding his conduct in office during 2009 and 2010.
Even if Epstein had committed no crimes, the alleged passing of sensitive and potentially advantageous government information to a foreign financier by the then-business secretary would still constitute a matter of significant gravity.
The SNP, the Lib Dems, Reform UK – and some prominent Labour politicians – believe that these actions merit criminal investigation.
However, it may well be that a one-time political ally and occasional political adversary becomes his nemesis.
In his statement on Monday, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed his shock at the recent revelations and called for a wide-ranging, intensive Whitehall inquiry into the disclosure of government documents, with its findings to be made public.
Lord Mandelson has been approached for comment.
Brown’s statement, however, does not entirely benefit the current prime minister.
Sir Keir Starmer has faced pressure from opposition politicians to initiate an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador in the first place.
In an attempt to take a proactive stance, the prime minister stated today that there would be an urgent investigation into Lord Mandelson’s connections with Epstein during his tenure as a minister in the last Labour government.
It has now emerged that Gordon Brown had requested the cabinet secretary to undertake a similar assessment as far back as last September, although it yielded no findings.
This may further solidify criticism from the opposition – and from within the Labour Party – that Sir Keir has been unduly slow to act.
When Lord Mandelson was removed from his post in Washington last September, Downing Street attributed the decision to the previously unknown “extent and depth” of his relationship with Epstein.
While new depths now appear to have been reached, the question of why more was not known or discovered before his appointment remains pertinent.
Without approving that appointment, any historical revelations about Lord Mandelson would have been unlikely to have risked political damage to the prime minister directly.
In retrospect, Sir Keir must be wishing the self-declared political fighter had become a quitter many years ago.
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