From Labour fixer to ousted US ambassador – who is Peter Mandelson?published at 10:16 GMT
Peter Mandelson has had a long-running political career with the Labour party – but one that has seen a number of bumps along the way.
He began working for the Labour Party in the 1980s and later played a pivotal role in getting Tony Blair elected as party leader in 1994 – backing him over Gordon Brown.
The three men became the key architects of New Labour – the party’s rebrand ahead of its landslide victory in the 1997 elections – with Mandelson subsequently given the job of minister without portfolio and then trade secretary.
By 1998, he was forced into the first of his government resignations when it was revealed he had received a secret loan of £373,000 from his ministerial colleague Geoffrey Robinson.
Less than a year later he was back in government taking on the position of Northern Ireland secretary.
In 2001, he quit that role over allegations of misconduct about a passport application for the Hinduja brothers. An inquiry later cleared him of wrongdoing.
He retained his constituency seat of Hartlepool later that same year – giving an emotive victory speech.
Media caption,
Peter Mandelson: I’m a fighter, not a quitter
Two years later he quit as an MP to become the EU’s trade commissioner.
Under Gordon Brown’s government he was appointed business secretary and made a peer. He then went on to form an international lobbying firm when Labour lost power.
In December 2024, Starmer appointed him as the UK’s ambassador to the US. He was sacked in September over his links to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after emails showed the peer sent him supportive messages after he pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor in 2008.
Lord Mandelson has repeatedly said he regrets his relationship with Epstein.
