The United Kingdom Labor Government released this Monday the second tranche of documents related to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to the United States. Among the more than 1500 pages of files made public following Parliament’s request, are emails and WhatsApp messages exchanged between the former ruler and several members of Keir Starmer’s executive, including ministers, aides and advisors.
Documents related to the criminal investigation which is being carried out by London’s Metropolitan Policy, for allegedly sharing confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein, and which include files on the process that led to the Security Assessment Service veto (UKSV, its acronym in English).
On the basis of UKSV’s “lead” to the ambassadorial nomination – which Starmer guarantees not been informed – there will be business relations between Mandelson and “top figures in China, Russia and Israel”, reported the Guardian last week, and not the closeness he had with the North American sexual abuser, which led to his dismissal in September 2025.
According to Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Prime Minister, some information and names appearing in the documents of this second tranche were omitted for reasons of national security, in cooperation with the competent authorities. The first block of files was released in March.
One of the highlights of these documents is a handwritten letter, dated November 2024, addressed to the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, now Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, David Lammy, in which Mandelson guarantees that the Government would “never” “regret” appointing him ambassador to Washington.
Both the reason for his dismissal – his connections with Epstein – and the process that led to his appointment to the position are among the reasons that, according to opinion studies, help to explain the high unpopularity of the Government and Starmer and the disastrous performance of the Labor Party in the English local and legislative elections Welsh and Scottish carried out last month.
Despite having advised Starmer’s successful candidacy in the 2024 legislative elections and praising the “start” of his governance, according to the documents revealed, Mandelson made several criticisms of the prime minister, in messages exchanged with ministers and advisors.
In one of them, sent to Pat McFadden, Minister of Labor, after a bad Labor result in a supplementary election held in May 2025, Mandelson defends a “more ‘Trumpian’ approach, taking risks and boldly”, stating that Labor’s problems “come from the top” of the party and that “Keir (Starmer) has little determination”.
“I was at number 10 (Downing Street) after being with you. (The Government) is in trouble and disoriented. It needs a complete revitalization and injection of purpose and confidence to get anywhere,” he told McFadden.
Former member of the Labor governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, former European Commissioner and member of the House of Lords, Peter Mandelson was appointed UK ambassador to the US because he was seen by Keir Starmer’s executive as someone who had the ideal profile to deal with the Trump Administration.
He held the position between February and September 2025, having been removed following the publication by the US Department of Justice of more than three million files relating to the “Epstein case”.
