Politics Home Article | Keir Starmer Wants Peter Mandelson To Be Stripped Of His Peerage

Peter Mandelson resigned his membership of the Labour Party due to further evidence emerging of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein (Alamy)

3 min read2 hr

The prime minister’s spokesperson told reporters on Monday that Starmer “believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords or use the title”, after the latest release of files by the US Department of Justice on Friday suggested further connections between the peer and Epstein. 

The documents suggest Epstein – the American financier who was convicted of child sex offences, rape and human trafficking before taking his own life in prison in 2019 – made $75,000 (£55,000) in payments to Mandelson in three separate $25,000 transactions in 2003 and 2004. Mandelson has denied these allegations and said he has “no record or recollection” of these payments.

Mandelson resigned his membership of the Labour Party over the weekend, explaining he did not wish to cause “further embarrassment” to the party. Despite resigning his party membership, Mandelson remains a member of the House of Lords.

As it stands, removing his peerage would require an Act of Parliament. The prime minister is therefore calling on those in the Lords to work with the government to modernise disciplinary procedures to allow for the easier removal of Lords who have “brought the House into disrepute”, according to Downing Street.

Starmer has also asked the Cabinet Secretary to “urgently” review all available information on contact between the former minister and Jeffrey Epstein.

The prime minister had already sacked Mandelson from his role as UK ambassador to Washington last year, after new details came to light about his relationship with the convicted sex offender.

Leading figures from the Conservative Party, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats have called for further action by the government against Mandelson.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said in a statement on X on Monday that “enough is enough” and that she wanted to see a “full Cabinet Office investigation” into whether Mandelson and his husband accepted money from Epstein during Mandelson’s time as a minister.

“Keir Starmer told me that he had full confidence in Peter Mandelson before having to sack him as Ambassador,” Badenoch said.

“The PM has consistently looked the other way when it comes to Mandelson’s past, even avoiding proper vetting. Just yesterday, he let Mandelson resign his own Labour membership rather than acting.

“If Starmer lacks the backbone to order this investigation, then it will be all the more clear that he bears full responsibility for bringing Mandelson back into British public life despite knowing about the relationship with Epstein.”

The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has also demanded a “full investigation” into Mandelson’s role in previous Labour governments.