Prime Minister Keir Starmer removed Lord Peter Mandelson from his post as Britain’s ambassador to the United States on Wednesday after the publication of a cache of emails showing the Labour peer offering support to financier Jeffrey Epstein as US authorities pursued sex‑abuse allegations.
The messages, some obtained by Bloomberg News and others published by British outlets, include exchanges from 2005 to 2008 in which Mandelson wrote to Epstein as the FBI’s investigation unfolded and after Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida. In one email dated the day before Epstein began an 18‑month sentence as part of a controversial plea deal, Mandelson told him, "I think the world of you... you must fight for early release." In a separate 2006 message, when Florida police had filed an affidavit seeking charges, Mandelson wrote: "What's cooking? I am in London (public holiday) heading back to BXL in a few hours. I am following you closely and here whenever you need."
Other emails show Epstein referencing a "Mr Big" and asking Mandelson to prompt unidentified intermediaries, and suggest Epstein sought help from Mandelson to approach Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, who was on a trade mission in Europe. Bloomberg said it contacted Crist, who told the outlet he had no recollection of being contacted on Epstein’s behalf and did not know who Mandelson was. A separate exchange in the cache refers to Jay Lefkowitz, identified by Epstein as "Lefky," who served as one of Epstein’s defence lawyers; the messages do not disclose the identities of those Epstein called "Mr Big" or "your guy."
The newly published material follows earlier images and emails released this week that showed Mandelson in private social photographs with Epstein and contained what British media described as effusive notes. The Sun published emails in which Mandelson told Epstein: "I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened. I can still barely understand it. . . . Your friends stay with you and love you." Mandelson’s correspondence also includes an exchange in 2005 in which Epstein offered to pay for Mandelson’s travel to St Barts and an apparent discussion of a Christmas trip during which a now widely circulated photograph of Mandelson trying on a white belt was taken.
Mandelson has previously said he "profoundly regrets" ever meeting Epstein and has acknowledged falling for what he called Epstein’s "lies." He has not disputed the authenticity of the emails made public. In statements to media outlets, Mandelson said he relied on assurances of Epstein’s innocence at the time and that, with hindsight and additional information, he was wrong to believe those assurances.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting an under‑age girl in Florida and received an 18‑month sentence as part of a deal that later drew widespread criticism. Federal investigators had been pursuing a broader sex‑trafficking probe that led agents to identify multiple potential under‑age victims. In the messages disclosed this week, Epstein appeared to seek clemency by suggesting Mandelson speak to the Florida governor, noting that his conviction was at the state level and therefore potentially subject to a pardon or similar relief.
Bloomberg said its cache included exchanges from 2005 through 2008; other messages and photographs were published by British tabloids. The files show repeated contact between Mandelson—who was European Trade Commissioner in the mid‑2000s and later served in senior UK government roles—and Epstein as the latter’s legal problems mounted.
Officials contacted by Bloomberg expressed no recollection of the approaches described in the emails. Josh Bolten, who served as White House chief of staff during the George W. Bush administration and was mentioned in one exchange, said he had "no recollection" of the matter. The published emails do not include evidence that Mandelson’s interventions led to any direct official action in the United States.
Prime Minister Starmer appointed Mandelson as ambassador earlier this year; the removal marks a swift response from Downing Street as pressure mounted over the correspondence. Labour sources said the decision followed a review of the material now in the public domain.
The disclosures come amid renewed scrutiny of the networks and social circles that surrounded Epstein before his wider criminal exposure. Epstein died in 2019 while in federal custody in New York; his death and the handling of his case have prompted ongoing investigations and reporting into his associates and the responses of public figures who had contact with him.
Mandelson’s removal is likely to intensify political debate in Britain about vetting, patronage and the standard to which public representatives are held when past private associations with convicted criminals come to light. Government officials and opposition parties will be monitoring any further disclosures from the caches of emails and photographs that have prompted this latest series of revelations. The contents of the published messages are now part of wider inquiries and media coverage seeking to establish the full extent and implications of Mandelson’s ties to Epstein and the influence, if any, those ties had on legal or political processes.
Mandelson has said he will co‑operate with any inquiries and reiterated his regret at having associated with Epstein. He has not disputed the contents of the emails now in the public domain.