Mandelson’s Arrest Adds to Scandal That Has Rattled Starmer and Labour Party

Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Supported by SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Arrest of Ex-Ambassador Peter Mandelson Rattles U.K. Politics The arrest of the British former envoy to Washington, long a key figure in the Labour Party, deepened a scandal that has led to calls for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation. Listen to this article · 6:47 min Learn more Share full article 0 By Michael D. Shear Reporting from London Feb. 24, 2026, 6:22 a.m. ET Almost exactly a year ago, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stood next to Peter Mandelson, his new ambassador to the United States, during a welcome reception at the diplomat’s residence in Washington D.C. Both men were beaming as they celebrated Mr. Mandelson’s return to the corridors of power. The exuberance has faded. On Monday afternoon, the British police arrested Mr. Mandelson at his home in London following allegations that he had passed confidential government information to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during an earlier period when Mr. Mandelson served in government. For Mr. Mandelson, a towering figure in British politics for more than four decades, the arrest is the culmination of a yearlong fall from grace that has taken him from the pinnacle of global diplomacy to a holding room in a local police station in central London. And for Mr. Starmer, the spectacle of Mr. Mandelson in custody is the latest accelerant on a political scandal that had already rocked the governing Labour Party. It faces a critical special election outside Manchester, northern England, on Thursday. Since discovering details of Mr. Mandelson’s long friendship with Mr. Epstein, Mr. Starmer has fired the ambassador, stripped him of his “right honorable” title and pressured him to resign from the House of Lords. All of that has proved too little, even for Mr. Starmer’s Labour Party allies, who have demanded to be told what the prime minister knew about Mr. Mandelson’s relationship with Mr. Epstein, and when he knew it. Mr. Starmer tapped Mr. Ma...