Revealed: The prime particulars unveiled within the Mandelson information
The first tranche of the Mandelson files reveal the advice given to the Prime Minister over the disgraced peer’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein as well as warnings about appointing him.
The documents also show how the disgraced peer demanded nearly £550,000 as a payout following his sacking as ambassador as well as how he pushed then-prime minister Sir Tony Blair to meet Epstein.
Here, the Daily Mail takes a closer look …
‘Reputational risk’
Sir Keir Starmer was warned that Peter Mandelson had a ‘particularly close’ relationship with Epstein and there was a ‘reputational risk’ to making him US ambassador, the files show.
The Prime Minister has insisted Mandelson ‘lied repeatedly’ to No 10 about his relationship with the paedophile, before and during his time in the job.
But the dossier reveals that Sir Keir was explicitly warned that Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein posed a ‘general reputational risk’ and that the PM could ‘personally’ get the blame.
A Cabinet Office document from December 2024 before Mandelson was hired detailed his links with Epstein.
It shows how after the disgraced peer had a relationship with Epstein when he was business minister which continued ‘after the end of the Labour government’.
It adds that ‘Mandelson reportedly stayed in Epstein’s house while he was in jail in June 2009’.
In total the words ‘reputational risk’ were used four times to refer to his relationship with Epstein, his past resignations from the Government, and lobbying by his firm Global Counsel.
The files also included official advice given to Sir Keir in his red box. In one note, two of his closest officials warned him: ‘If anything goes wrong, you could be more exposed as the individual is more connected to you personally.’
Former US ambassador Peter Mandelson pictured last year with Donald Trump in the Oval Office
NO 10 WERE ‘SATISFIED’
Sir Keir’s former communications chief Lord Doyle was ‘satisfied’ with Mandelson’s replies regarding his relationship with Epstein, the files suggest.
Lord Doyle, who the files describe as a ‘personal friend’ of Mandelson, appears to have been a decisive influence in the decision to believe the disgraced peer.
Advice sent to the PM in December 2024 shows Lord Doyle was ‘satisfied with his responses to questions’ regarding Epstein.
Mandelson was made US ambassador on December 20, 2024.
Lord Doyle, who was involved in the hiring process, was made a peer by Sir Keir after resigning as his communications chief in 2025.
He was suspended from Labour last month after it emerged he had campaigned for a friend who had been charged with possessing and distributing indecent images of children. He has apologised ‘unreservedly’ for doing so.
POWELL WARNING
Senior No 10 figures blamed each other for the decision to hire Mandelson after he was sacked.
Files from last September show national security adviser Jonathan Powell appearing to suggest Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir’s former chief of staff, was at fault.
In a legal grilling included in the trove of Mandelson files Mr Powell said he thought the appointment was ‘weirdly rushed’.
He also said he flagged ‘concerns’ about Mandelson and his ‘reputation’ with Mr McSweeney at the time and was told they had been ‘addressed’.
Mr Powell’s version of events appeared to be backed up by Lord Doyle. In his own grilling by general counsel Mike Ostheimer, the former communications chief said Mr Powell had been ‘particularly cautious’ about the appointment.
He also said he’d had some ‘back and forth’ with Mr McSweeney over Mandelson’s job in private meetings.
All three men have been criticised for their role in Mr Mandelson’s appointment, but only Mr Powell remains in post.
DELAYED BY A DOG
The files show that even after being sacked, Mandelson was able to broker a later departure by blaming his dog.
He was sacked on September 11, but an official wrote that he had agreed to remain in the US for almost a fortnight.
Responding, Mandelson blamed his delayed departure from the US on his dog, Jock, who required ‘veterinary certification’ before leaving the country.
In the same memo, the disgraced peer said his ‘chief concern’ on returning to the UK was avoiding negative press and arriving with ‘maximum dignity’.
The files also suggest Mandelson threatened the Government with legal action if the severance payment was not to his liking.
Relationship: The Labour peer with Epstein on his birthday in 2007 in files released by the Department of Justice
GOLDEN GOODBYE
Mandelson received a payoff worth almost double his legal entitlement after initially demanding a staggering £547,000.
Documents suggest he ‘opened negotiations’ by suggesting the taxpayer should buy out his four-year contract.
His lawyers argued his entitlement to three months’ notice was ‘insufficient’ because the Government had ‘permanently damaged’ his employability. The Government signed off on a ‘special severance package’ of £75,000 for Mandelson, in a decision approved by No 10 and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, the files indicate.
He was handed £40,330 in lieu of three month’s notice and a ‘special termination payment’ of £34,670.
Exchanges in the files show officials congratulated themselves for driving a hard bargain – saying the sum was agreed with ‘minimal fuss’ at a ‘low’ cost. Foreign Office permanent secretary Olly Robbins said the settlement was ‘good value for money’.
BLAIR MEETING
Mandelson pushed for Sir Tony to meet his ‘young and vibrant’ friend Epstein before a meeting between the pair took place, the files show.
In an email to Mr Powell, then Sir Tony’s chief of staff, Mandelson said: ‘I think TB would be interested in meeting Jeffrey, who is also a friend of mine.’
He added: ‘He is young and vibrant. He is safe (whatever that means) and [Bill] Clinton is now doing a lot of travelling with him.’
The documents go on to describe a meeting between Sir Tony and Epstein in May 2002.
Matthew Rycroft, then a Downing Street foreign policy aide, wrote to Sir Tony: ‘Jeffrey Epstein is seeing you at 5pm today. He is a financial adviser to the super-rich and a property developer. He is a friend of Bill Clinton and
Peter Mandelson.’ The note adds that Epstein was ‘very rich’ and ‘close to the Duke of York’, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
A spokesman for Sir Tony has said the meeting occurred ‘long before his crimes were known of and his subsequent conviction’ and added that he did not meet or engage with Epstein after 2002.
