Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has admitted to feigning illness to avoid defending Peter Mandelson in the House of Commons during his controversial tenure as Britain's ambassador to the US. Phillips, who resigned from her government role earlier this year, stated that she did not attend Home Office questions on a particular occasion because she did not want to answer queries about Mandelson's performance.
"Mandelson hadn't yet been sacked, but we were in that sort of indeterminate week where the prime minister was giving him his full confidence," Phillips told LBC's Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. "That week, it was Home Office questions and I didn't go. Because I said if anybody asks me a question about whether Mandelson was good at his job I would say no. So I said I was sick."
She added that she subsequently fell ill, remarking, "I think if I lie about being sick, I get sick."
Lord Mandelson was sacked as UK ambassador to the US in September of the previous year by then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer, following fresh revelations about his association with Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson had formally taken up the ambassadorial role in February 2025, serving for seven months before his dismissal. His appointment by Starmer was considered by many to have significantly contributed to Starmer's eventual downfall as Prime Minister.
Phillips stepped down as safeguarding minister in May, issuing a critical statement regarding Starmer's leadership. She expressed that she is now "much, much, much happier not in government" and is no longer obligated to align with government positions, noting that her typical response to difficult questions used to be silence.
Phillips has also indicated she will not be part of new Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government and hinted at the possibility of not standing as an MP in the next general election, citing the