Political Turmoil: Starmer Gains Allies Amid Mandelson-Epstein Scandal Shakeup

LONDON – On Sunday, key figures in the Cabinet expressed their support for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose leadership is under scrutiny following his controversial decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the United States. Mandelson, a politician with a checkered past and connections to Jeffrey Epstein, has become the center of a political storm.

Starmer is set to defend his position in Parliament on Monday after it was shockingly revealed that Mandelson was assigned the prestigious diplomatic role despite not passing security checks.

The Prime Minister has expressed his anger, stating that he was unaware that a thorough vetting process in January 2025 had advised against granting Mandelson security clearance. Nevertheless, the Foreign Office, responsible for diplomatic appointments, proceeded with the clearance.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy asserted that had Starmer been informed of the concerns, “he would never, ever have appointed him ambassador.”

Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall defended Starmer, emphasizing his integrity and stating that he would not have moved forward with Mandelson’s appointment if he had been aware of the security issues.

The top civil servant in the Foreign Office, Olly Robbins, was forced to resign on Thursday — though allies say he was just doing his job and is being made a scapegoat. Robbins is expected to give his own version of events to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

Simon McDonald, who was top civil servant in the Foreign Office until 2020, said Robbins had been “thrown under the bus.” He told the BBC that vetting information was highly sensitive and “would never be shared” with the prime minister or his staff.

All the main opposition parties have called on Starmer to resign. Right-of-center Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the prime minister’s position is “untenable.” Ed Davey, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, said Sunday that the government is “in perpetual crisis, and I don’t think they can get out of that unless Keir Starmer moves aside.”

Starmer’s Labour Party holds a large parliamentary majority, so power to topple him lies with his own lawmakers, who are already glum about the party’s dire poll ratings.

Starmer defused a potential crisis in February, when some Labour lawmakers called for him to resign over the Mandelson appointment. But he could face a leadership challenge after local and regional elections on May 7, in which Labour is expected to do badly.

Some Labour lawmakers think it would be damaging to change leaders at a time of global instability, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and with three years until a national election must be called.

Others despair at the prime minister’s repeated missteps since he led Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024. Starmer has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and has been forced into repeated policy U-turns.

Critics say the Mandelson appointment reveals the prime minister’s lack of judgment. Documents released by the government in March, after being forced to by Parliament, showed Starmer was warned by his staff that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, exposed the government to “reputational risk.”

But his expertise as a former European Union trade chief and contacts among global elites were considered assets in dealing with President Donald Trump’s administration.

He lasted less than nine months in the job. Starmer fired Mandelson in September 2025 after evidence emerged that he had lied about the extent of his links to Epstein.

The release of millions of pages of Epstein-related documents by the U.S. Department of Justice in January brought more revelations, showing that Mandelson’s relationship with the financier continued even after Epstein’s conviction in 2008 for sexual offenses involving a minor.

Emails also suggested Mandelson had passed on sensitive, and potentially market-moving, government information to Epstein in 2009 after the global financial crisis.

British police launched a criminal probe and arrested Mandelson Feb. 23 on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues. Mandelson has previously denied wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.