Former UK cabinet minister Lord Peter Mandelson has resigned his membership of the Labour Party, saying he does not want to cause “further embarrassment” over renewed scrutiny of his past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
His decision follows the latest release of files by the US Department of Justice, which include references to financial transactions allegedly linked to him. Documents suggest Epstein made three separate payments of $25,000 each — totalling $75,000 — to accounts connected to Lord Mandelson in 2003 and 2004.
In a letter to Labour’s general secretary, Lord Mandelson said the allegations were “understandable” grounds for public concern but maintained they were untrue.
“I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this,” he wrote. “Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me.”
He added that stepping down was in the party’s best interests while he examined the matter.
“While doing this I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party,” he said.
Lord Mandelson also repeated an apology to Epstein’s victims, saying their voices should have been heard sooner.
Earlier, he questioned the authenticity of the newly released documents but expressed regret for ever having known Epstein and for maintaining contact with him after the financier’s 2008 conviction.
Labour MP Gordon McKee said Epstein’s victims would be “rightly outraged” by the revelations and described Mandelson’s resignation as the “right thing” to do.
The Conservative Party criticised Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for allowing Mandelson to resign rather than suspending him, with party leader Kemi Badenoch calling for a formal investigation into his ties to Epstein.
Lord Mandelson, a long-time Labour figure and grandson of former cabinet minister Herbert Morrison, began working for the party in the 1980s. He served in several senior government roles and was appointed the UK’s ambassador to the United States in December 2024, but was dismissed the following year amid questions over his past relationship with Epstein.
Recently released bank statements appear to show the payments were directed to accounts associated with Mandelson and his then-partner, though it remains unclear whether the funds were received. The files also include images and emails referencing Mandelson, though authorities stress that being named or pictured does not imply wrongdoing.
In one email exchange from 2009, Mandelson appeared to discuss government policy on a proposed tax on bankers’ bonuses after requests from Epstein. He later said his views reflected those of the broader financial sector, not any individual.
Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges including soliciting minors, died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Millions of related documents have since been released under a US transparency law, renewing scrutiny of prominent figures previously linked to the disgraced financier.
Whether further investigations into Mandelson’s case will follow remains to be seen.