United Kingdom: Keir Starmer under pressure after new revelations about Mandelson and the Epstein affair

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing mounting political pressure following new revelations about links between former ambassador Peter Mandelson and financier Jeffrey Epstein. Several opposition parties called for his resignation on Thursday, denouncing the affair as compromising national security.

According to information revealed by The GuardianPeter Mandelson is expected to receive security clearance in January 2025 despite a negative assessment from his background check. A Downing Street spokesperson confirmed that "senior officials" at the Foreign Office had decided to disregard this recommendation, while maintaining that Keir Starmer and his government had not been informed of the decision until this week.

This affair reignites criticism of the Prime Minister, already weakened by his decision to appoint Mandelson to a high-ranking diplomatic post. The former ambassador, dismissed in September 2025, is accused by Starmer himself of having "repeatedly lied" about the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019.

The political reactions were immediate. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Keir Starmer of "betraying national security" and demanded his resignation. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also stated that the Prime Minister should step down if it turned out he had misled Parliament.

The British government has pledged to release all documents related to this appointment. A first set of documents, made public in March, revealed that Keir Starmer had been warned of the "reputational risk" linked to the relationship between Mandelson and Epstein before his appointment. Furthermore, police opened an investigation and conducted searches in February following new revelations from US court documents suggesting that Mandelson may have passed on sensitive information to the financier while he was a minister between 2008 and 2010.