Peter Mandelson arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office
Tories have branded the arrest as the ‘defining moment’ of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership
Peter Mandelson has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office in what Conservatives have branded as “the defining moment” of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership.
The former US ambassador remained under police questioning long into the night following his arrest on Monday afternoon at his home in north London.
The peer is under investigation over allegations that he leaked market-sensitive information from Downing Street to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
His arrest is the latest development in a spectacular fall from grace that has seen him resign his Labour membership and stand down from the House of Lords.
Lord Mandelson was sacked as US Ambassador last September after Downing Street said new information about the depth of this relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein emerged.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Lord Mandelson's arrest was "the defining moment of Sir Keir's premiership".
Badenoch, who said the prime minister was "weak", added: "Watching the man who he appointed to the highest position in our diplomatic service getting arrested by police is an image which I think is going to stay with us for many, many years to come."
The former Labour minister has been accused of passing sensitive information onto Epstein during his time as business secretary.
Two of Lord Mandelson’s properties were previously searched by police in connection with the allegations, which surfaced following the US Department of Justice’s document dump related to Epstein last month.
As part of the so-called Epstein files, emails from 2009 appear to show Lord Mandelson pass on an assessment by Gordon Brown’s adviser of potential policy measures including an “asset sales plan”.
He also appeared to discuss a tax on bankers’ bonuses and confirm an imminent bailout package for the Euro the day before it was announced in 2010.
The emails appeared to be sent to Epstein after he became a convicted sex offender.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
"He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview.
"This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”
Lord Mandelson was sacked from his role as US Ambassador last year after new details about his relationship with Mr Epstein emerged.
He was appointed to the role in 2024, despite his friendship with Mr Epstein being known.
He was the first political appointment to the role in decades and took on the job as Donald Trump returned to the White House.
His arrest comes as the UK Government announced it will release the first tranche of documents related to Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment “very shortly in early March”.
However, the publication of some correspondence between Downing Street and the peer will be delayed “because of the Metropolitan Police interest”, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said.
The Prime Minister has faced considerable criticism over his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson to the position given his friendship with Epstein, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar calling for him to resign.
Sir Keir had admitted to knowing about Lord Mandelson’s ongoing friendship with Epstein, but said the peer “lied repeatedly” about the extent of the relationship when questioned on it.
Under pressure from Labour MPs and opposition parties, the Prime Minister agreed to release all the documents relating to the appointment, with sensitive ones sent to Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC).
In a statement to the Commons on Monday, Mr Jones said: “The Government intends to publish documents in tranches instead of one publication at the end of the process, given that we are unable to confirm how long that process will take.
“On that basis, the Government expects to be able to publish the first tranche of documents very shortly in early March.
“I should, however, inform the House that it remains the case that a subset of this first tranche of documents is currently subject to the ongoing Metropolitan Police investigation.
“This includes correspondence between number 10 and Lord Peter Mandelson, in which a number of follow up questions were asked.
“Because of the Metropolitan Police interest in this document, we are unable to publish it in early March in the first tranche, but will release it as soon as we are able to do so in consultation with the Metropolitan Police.
“There is also a small portion of that material which engages matters of national security or international relations, and thus the role this House has envisaged for the Intelligence and Security Committee, we are working with the committee to establish processes for making this material available to them, and we’re very grateful to the committee in advance of their important contribution to reviewing these documents.”
Mr Jones later added that the first tranche will include documents currently held by the Government.
The subsequent tranches of information will include documents found by various departments through their searches.
He said: “Commissions have gone out across Government for those departments to search their archives and databases to bring forward any documents that relate to the terms of the humble address.
“And given the depth of the issues raised in the humble address, that of course will take some time to process.”
The Conservatives accused the Government of acting “with the urgency of a tired sloth on a bank holiday Monday” in releasing documents.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: “Careful work must not become a euphemism for managed delay.
“It is time the Government stopped treating Parliament like an inconvenient interruption to their schedule, stopped giving every impression that they have priorities working out who’s back to cover, and started providing some actual answers so that we can start to get to the bottom of this murky matter.”
Mr Jones responded that the Government was trying to manage a criminal investigation, and “I’m sure the House would not want us to inadvertently interfere with that process”.
Sir Keir previously said the files will prove Lord Mandelson lied during the vetting process before taking on the ambassador role.
Following the release of the Epstein files, Lord Mandelson said he has “no recollection” of receiving payments totalling 75,000 dollars (around £55,000) from Epstein between 2003 and 2004 as bank details in the documents indicated.
Epstein is also said to have paid for an osteopathy course for Lord Mandelson’s husband Reinaldo Avila Da Silva in 2009, at the time the government was dealing with the financial crisis.
Questions had been raised about his links to Epstein over the years, but came under new scrutiny in September after it was revealed that he had supported the disgraced US financier while he was being investigated for sexual offences.
Emails emerged in which he told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
He is also reported to have told Epstein, “I think the world of you”, the day before the disgraced financier began his sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008.
Lord Mandelson had been a Cabinet minister in the New Labour Government, but resigned twice.
His first departure from the Department of Trade and Industry in 1998 came after it emerged he had received a £373,000 home loan from then paymaster general Geoffrey Robinson.
He returned to the cabinet as Northern Ireland secretary in 1999 but quit again in 2001 as he became embroiled in the Hinduja affair.
He had been accused of helping one of the Indian billionaire Hinduja brothers get a British passport in return for a £1 million donation to the Millennium Dome.
Despite being cleared by an inquiry of any impropriety in the case, his Westminster career looked finished and he became a European commissioner in Brussels.
He stepped down as an MP in 2004 but was made a peer by Gordon Brown and rejoined the Cabinet in 2008, in a move widely seen as an attempt by the then-PM to shield himself from Blairite criticism as he came increasingly under fire.
It is in this period which documents released by the US Department of Justice apparently showed Lord Mandelson passing information to Mr Epstein.
His arrest comes days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was taken into custody on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
The former prince was released under investigation after he too was accused of sharing sensitive information with Epstein during his time as the UK’s trade envoy.
Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said the Government is “not ruling out” action to remove Andrew from the line of succession.