Veteran British politician Lord Peter Mandelson has resigned from the Labour Party, saying he does not wish to further embarrass the party amid renewed controversy over his past links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a letter to Labour’s general secretary, Mandelson said he was “regretful and sorry” after being named in newly released documents from the US Department of Justice, reports BBC.
The files, published on Friday, appear to reference three payments of $25,000 each allegedly connected to him in 2003 and 2004.
Mandelson rejected the allegations, insisting that claims Epstein made financial payments to him two decades ago were false. He said he has no record or recollection of receiving such money, adding that he would look into the matter but had chosen to step down from party membership in the meantime to avoid further damage to Labour.
In his letter, Mandelson again apologised to the women and girls abused by Epstein, saying their voices should have been heard much earlier. He stressed that his resignation was taken in what he believed to be the Labour Party’s best interests, underlining his long-standing commitment to its values.
Earlier, Mandelson said he could not confirm the authenticity of the newly released documents but repeated his regret for having known Epstein and for maintaining contact after Epstein’s 2008 conviction. He offered an “unequivocal” apology to the victims.
Labour MP Gordon McKee said Epstein’s victims would be “rightly outraged” by the latest revelations and argued that Mandelson had taken the correct step by resigning. The Conservative Party criticised Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, saying Mandelson should have been expelled rather than allowed to resign, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for his suspension and a formal investigation.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed told reporters the government had not been aware of the alleged financial links.
Mandelson, a prominent Labour strategist and former cabinet minister, was appointed UK ambassador to the United States in December 2024 but was removed less than a year later following earlier disclosures about his association with Epstein. He has remained on leave from the House of Lords since that appointment.
The newly released files include bank records, first reported by the Financial Times, that appear to show three payments referencing Mandelson. One payment in May 2003 was sent to a Barclays account linked to Reinaldo Avila da Silva, identified as Mandelson’s partner at the time, while two further payments were made to HSBC accounts in June 2004. It remains unclear whether the funds were ultimately received.
The documents also contain redacted images showing Mandelson standing next to a woman, as well as emails indicating he remained in contact with Epstein after his conviction. Mandelson has said he cannot recall the circumstances of the photograph and emphasised that being named or pictured in the files does not imply wrongdoing.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 in the United States on charges including soliciting underage girls and later died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. The latest disclosures form part of the largest release to date of Epstein-related records under a US law mandating their publication.
