Starmer to face questions on Mandelson after files showed ‘risk’ warning

Sir Keir Starmer will face fresh questions about his decision to make Lord Mandelson US ambassador after it emerged he was warned of a “general reputational risk” before the appointment.

The Prime Minister is expected to speak to journalists during a visit to Belfast on Thursday following the release of files showing senior officials had concerns about the peer taking up the role in Washington.

The public appearance will be his first since the publication on Wednesday of the first tranche of papers relating to the peer released by the Government in response to a demand from MPs.

Following the release, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Labour MPs should consider whether Sir Keir is “fit to run our country” after being “dishonest with them, with the country, with Parliament, about what he knew.”

The Prime Minister has insisted Lord Mandelson “lied repeatedly” to Downing Street about his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, before and during his tenure as ambassador.

But papers published on Wednesday showed a“due diligence” document drawn up by the Cabinet Office in December 2024 the appointment noted a series of reports detailing his links with the convicted sex offender.

The file highlighted that in 2014 Lord Mandelson agreed to be a “founding citizen” of an ocean conservation group founded by Ghislaine Maxwell, and funded by Epstein.

The disgraced socialite was a former girlfriend of Epstein and was jailed for 20 years in the US in 2022 for sex trafficking.

It also noted that after Epstein was first convicted of procuring an underage girl in 2008 “their relationship continued across 2009-2011, beginning when Lord Mandelson was business minister and continuing after the end of the Labour government”, noting that “Mandelson reportedly stayed in Epstein’s house while he was in jail in June 2009”.

A section of the report concluded: “To note – general reputational risk.”

The files also showed national security adviser (NSA) Jonathan Powell believed the process for installing Lord Mandelson in the job was “weirdly rushed.”

The peer was awarded a £75,000 taxpayer-funded payout when he was sacked nine months later, in September 2025, after further details of his relationship with Epstein emerged.

The 31 files released by the Government on Wednesday did not include correspondence between No 10 and Lord Mandelson, in which a number of follow-up questions were asked about his relationship with Epstein.

MPs were told those exchanges remained subject to the Metropolitan Police’s ongoing investigation into the peer over allegations of misconduct in public office.

The Prime Minister has been dogged by questions over his judgment in making a political appointment to place Lord Mandelson in Washington, rather than giving the role to a career diplomat.

The peer was arrested on February 23 on suspicion of misconduct in public office, having been accused of passing sensitive information on to Epstein during his time as business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government.

He was subsequently bailed, but later released from his bail conditions, although he remains under investigation.