Starmer and the Mandelson-Epstein row: What we know so far

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing mounting political pressure at home over his decision to appoint former Labour grandee Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington as Mandelson’s past ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has surfaced.

Starmer has come under fire from opposition parties and some within his own ranks over the appointment. Many are demanding that the Starmer resign from his position as the UK’s Prime Minister.

Mandelson has since resigned from the Labour

Party as police executed search warrants on his properties in an ongoing investigation tied to his conduct while in public office.

Starmer had appointed Mandelson to the key diplomatic post in 2025 despite concerns about his past association with Epstein. Newly released US Department of Justice files showed email exchanges and interactions between Mandelson and Epstein that critics say raised serious questions about Mandelson’s judgment.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the prime minister “must take responsibility” for the fallout. 

Starmer on Thursday apologised to victims of Jeffrey Epstein, saying he was sorry for what they had endured and for “having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him.” He said that the depth of Mandelson’s association with Epstein was not fully understood at the time of the appointment.

However, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has publicly defended Starmer’s integrity, while urging reforms to address corruption and ethical concerns exposed by the episode.

“I can look in his eyes and I can see that he is a man of integrity. He wants to do the right things…Perhaps he’s been too slow to do the right things, but he must do the right things now, and let’s judge what he does, on what happens in the next few months when he tries to, and I believe (he) will try, to clean up the system,” Brown told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

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