Mandelson, 72, informed parliamentary officials that he will retire from the House of Lords with effect from Wednesday, according to a statement by the Speaker of the Lords, Michael Forsyth.
A deepening political scandal has swept through Britain’s political establishment as veteran Labour powerbroker and former UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, announced his resignation from the House of Lords amid mounting revelations about his long-standing relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the alleged sharing of sensitive government information.
Mandelson, 72, informed parliamentary officials that he will retire from the House of Lords with effect from Wednesday, according to a statement by the Speaker of the Lords, Michael Forsyth.
AP reports that the decision comes as the British government prepared emergency legislation aimed at ejecting Mandelson from Parliament’s upper chamber and stripping him of the noble title, Lord Mandelson, that accompanied his seat.
Under existing rules, Mandelson will retain his title even after stepping down unless Parliament passes a specific law to revoke it, a measure that has not been taken against a peer for more than a century.
The government has also confirmed that it has forwarded a file of materials to police authorities, who are now assessing allegations that Mandelson may have passed market-sensitive and confidential government information to Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on U.S. federal sex trafficking charges.
The scandal has been reignited by the release of a massive trove of more than three million pages of Epstein-related documents by the United States Department of Justice.
The files contain extensive correspondence that has cast a harsh spotlight on Mandelson’s conduct during and after his time in senior government roles under Labour administrations.
Mandelson, a former business secretary and one-time close ally of ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair, later served as the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Washington.
He was dismissed from that role in September by Prime Minister Keir Starmer after concerns emerged over his ties to Epstein, ties that the newly released documents now suggest were far deeper and more consequential than previously acknowledged.
According to the files, Mandelson exchanged multiple emails with Epstein in which he passed on what critics describe as “nuggets” of political and economic intelligence.
Some of the information appears to relate directly to sensitive policy discussions during the global financial crisis, raising the prospect that criminal laws governing official secrets and insider information may have been breached.
Police authorities have said they are reviewing reports of misconduct to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.
Prime Minister Starmer, addressing his Cabinet on Tuesday, said he was appalled by the revelations contained in the newly released Epstein documents and warned that further damaging details could still emerge.
He has ordered the civil service to carry out an urgent and comprehensive review of all contacts between Mandelson and Epstein during periods when Mandelson held government office.
Starmer’s spokesman, Tom Wells, confirmed that the government had already shared its assessment with police investigators, stating that the Mandelson-Epstein correspondence appeared to include likely market-sensitive information related to the 2008 global financial crisis and its aftermath, information that should never have been shared outside official channels.
Among the most explosive revelations contained in the Epstein files are financial records and communications suggesting a flow of money between Epstein and individuals linked to Mandelson.
Bank documents from 2003 to 2004 indicate that Epstein made three payments totaling $75,000 to accounts connected to Mandelson or his long-term partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
Meanwhile, Mandelson has claimed he does not recall receiving the funds and has said he will investigate whether the documents are authentic.
However, the disclosures prompted him to resign from the Labour Party on Sunday, stating that he did not wish to cause the party “further embarrassment.”
Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges in Florida for soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution, received an 18-month jail sentence under a widely criticized plea deal that spared him federal prosecution at the time.
Despite Epstein’s conviction and public disgrace, emails and text messages in the newly released files show that Mandelson’s friendship with the financier continued well after his sentencing.
In another revelation, documents show that in 2009 Epstein sent £10,000 (approximately $13,650 at today’s exchange rates) to Reinaldo Avila da Silva to cover the cost of an osteopathy course.
Mandelson later told The Times of London that “in retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgment for Reinaldo to accept this offer,” an admission that has done little to quell public outrage.
That same year, Mandelson, then serving as business secretary, appears to have told Epstein that he would lobby fellow government ministers to reduce a controversial tax on bankers’ bonuses, a politically explosive issue in the wake of the financial crash.
The documents further reveal that Mandelson sent Epstein an internal government report outlining potential strategies for raising funds after the 2008 crisis, including proposals to sell off state assets.
In the email, Mandelson reportedly wrote: “Interesting note that’s gone to the PM,” suggesting that Epstein was being looped into confidential discussions at the highest levels of government.
Perhaps most alarming is a message dated May 2010 in which Mandelson informed Epstein that “sources tell me 500 b euro bailout” was nearly complete.
The message was sent just hours before European governments publicly announced a €500 billion rescue package to stabilize the eurozone, raising serious questions about whether Epstein was being given advance notice of market-moving decisions.
Epstein was found dead by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, a case that sparked global outrage and scrutiny of his powerful network of associates.