Foreign Affairs

UK Fires Ambassador To US Over Relationship With Epstein

Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday fired Peter Mandelson, the country’s ambassador to Washington, after a trove of emails revealed the extent of Mandelson’s ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mandelson had come under increasing fire after the release of Epstein’s so-called “birthday book.” The 238-page collection, assembled by Epstein’s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003, included a handwritten note in which Mandelson described Epstein as his “best pal.”

Starmer initially defended Mandelson, telling Parliament on Wednesday that the ambassador still had his “confidence,” according to the BBC. Just hours later, however, Bloomberg News published emails showing Mandelson’s continued support for Epstein even after his 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor.

“I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened,” Mandelson allegedly wrote in an email to Epstein the day before he reported to jail in June 2008, according to Bloomberg. “I can still barely understand it. It just could not happen in Britain.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office quickly announced Mandelson’s removal after the emails were published.

“The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment,” the office said in a statement. “In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes, he has been withdrawn as Ambassador with immediate effect.”

“In particular Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information,” the office added.

Mandelson said the messages he wrote in Epstein’s “birthday book” were “very embarrassing” in an interview with The Sun on Wednesday.

“I regret very much that I fell for his lies. I fell and accepted assurances that he had given me about his indictment, his original criminal case in Florida,” Mandelson told the outlet.

Mandelson has previously been forced out of high office amid scandal on several occasions. He resigned as trade and industry secretary in 1998 for failing to declare a home loan he obtained from a wealthy colleague. In 2001, he was again forced to resign as Northern Ireland secretary following allegations that he used his position to influence a British citizenship application from a wealthy businessman.