Lord Mandelson: the New Labour ‘Dark lord’ brought down by ‘best pal’ Epstein

Lord Peter Mandelson has made a career of comebacks – from spin doctor to returning to cabinet after quitting twice – but has now been axed as the UK’s top diplomat in Washington over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

As Sir Keir Starmer’s ambassador to the US, he was the first political appointment to the role in decades and took on the role as Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Peter Mandelson started out as a Labour communications director in 1985 and was first elected as an MP in 1992. He served in the cabinets of Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

The Labour grandee resigned twice from cabinet, in 1998 and 2001, became Britain’s European commissioner between 2004 and 2008, and then made an astonishing return in 2008 under Mr Brown, who made him a peer to become business secretary.

A linchpin of the New Labour project from its birth in the early 1990s, Lord Mandelson witnessed and participated in the feuds that dominated much of its 13 years in power.

His ability to manipulate the levers of power from the shadows earned him monikers such as “the Prince of Darkness” and “the Dark Lord”.

His first departure from the Department of Trade and Industry in 1998 came after it emerged he had received a £373,000 home loan from then paymaster general Geoffrey Robinson.

He returned to the cabinet as Northern Ireland secretary in 1999 but quit again in 2001 as he became embroiled in the Hinduja affair.

He had been accused of helping one of the Indian billionaire Hinduja brothers get a British passport in return for a £1 million donation to the Millennium Dome.

Despite being cleared by an inquiry of any impropriety in the case, his Westminster career looked finished and he became a European commissioner in Brussels.

Mr Brown recalled him to the cabinet table as business secretary in October 2008, in a move widely seen as an attempt by the then-PM to shield himself from Blairite criticism as he came increasingly under fire.

Lord Mandelson was chief strategist for Labour in London in the 2010 election while Mr Brown toured the country.

A vocal critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, Lord Mandelson then provided advice to Sir Keir as he sought to win power.

He had been widely tipped as the next chancellor of Oxford University last year, a position which instead went to Tory peer Lord William Hague.

He was named Sir Keir’s ambassador to the US in December ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Lord Mandelson’s trade experience was seen as a strength amid the US president’s pledge to impose wide-ranging tariffs and he has been involved in negotiations to ease their impact on the UK.

Questions had been raised about his links to Epstein in recent years, but new reports revealed that he had supported the disgraced US financier while he was being investigated for sexual offences.

Reports in both The Sun and Bloomberg revealed emails in which Lord Mandelson told Epstein he was “following you closely and here whenever you need” and urged him to “remember the Art of War” when dealing with prosecutors.

The peer is also reported to have told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and told him, “I think the world of you” the day before he began his sentence.

Lord Mandelson said he regretted “very, very deeply indeed carrying on” his association with the financier “for far longer than I should have done”, speaking to The Sun’s Harry Cole Saves The West programme.

Sir Keir insisted on Wednesday that he had “confidence” in his ambassador.

But growing pressure led to the Prime Minister removing him from the role – marking a departure from political life that even Lord Mandelson may not be able to come back from.