The Metropolitan Police in London have begun a criminal investigation into Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the United States, who has been accused of misconduct and passing confidential government information to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The announcement from the Metropolitan Police that it was investigating possible “misconduct in public office offenses” came on the same day that Mr. Mandelson resigned his seat in the House of Lords, the unelected second chamber of Britain’s Parliament.
In accordance with British police practice, the statement did not name Mr. Mandelson directly, but said the police were investigating “a 72-year-old man, a former government minister.” A senior police official confirmed the man was Mr. Mandelson.
It has been a spectacular fall from grace for Mr. Mandelson, one of Britain’s best-known politicians. He made his name as an architect of the modernization of the Labour Party that brought Prime Minister Tony Blair to power in the 1990s.
In September 2025, Mr. Mandelson was fired from his ambassadorial job in Washington when the extent of his links to Mr. Epstein started to become clear.
In recent days a series of new revelations from the Epstein files have raised concerns significant enough for London’s Metropolitan Police to say they are considering whether his conduct merits a criminal investigation.
Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice appear to show that while he was business secretary in 2009, Mr. Mandelson forwarded to Mr. Epstein a confidential document intended for the prime minister, outlining a potential sale of government assets. “Interesting note that’s gone to the PM,” Mr. Mandelson wrote.
Emails to Mr. Epstein also shed light on Mr. Mandelson’s tactics as he fought a planned tax on bankers’ bonuses in the wake of the financial crisis. In one message, Mr. Epstein asked Mr. Mandelson whether Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JP Morgan, should call Britain’s chancellor of the Exchequer “one more time” over the policy. Working around his own government, Mr. Mandelson replied: “Yes and mildly threaten.”
In May 2010, the emails indicate, Mr. Mandelson gave Mr. Epstein advance notice that a €500 billion bailout had been agreed to tackle the eurozone crisis. Mr. Epstein wrote,“Sources tell me 500 b euro bailout, almost compelte,” misspelling the word complete.
Mr. Mandelson replied: “Sd be announced tonight.”
Other documents suggested that Mr. Epstein made payments worth $75,000 to Mr. Mandelson. He has said that he has no memory of receiving the money and that the documentation may not be genuine.
Material from the Epstein files also suggests that in 2009, the disgraced financier sent £10,000 — almost $12,000 — to Reinaldo Avila da Silva, then Mr. Mandelson’s partner, and now his husband. The money was intended to pay for an osteopathy course.
On Tuesday, the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it had referred the material to the police.
Mr. Mandelson resigned his membership of the Labour Party on Sunday, saying he wished to spare it further embarrassment. In his resignation letter, he expressed his regret for having continued his association with Mr. Epstein after he became a convicted sex offender in 2008, and apologized “unequivocally to the women and girls who suffered.”
Mr. Mandelson cast doubt, however, on the authenticity of some of the released documents, saying that he had no record or recollection of “allegations which I believe to be false” that Mr. Epstein made financial payments him two decades ago.
Since then, pressure had been growing on him to be stripped of his membership of the House of Lords. On Tuesday, one senior cabinet minister, Wes Streeting, told the BBC that Mr. Mandelson’s actions were a “betrayal on so many levels.”
His resignation from the House of Lords was announced by the chamber’s speaker, Michael Forsyth. Mr. Forsyth said that “given the public interest and for the convenience of the House,” he had decided to make it known that the parliamentary authorities had “received notification from Lord Mandelson of his intention to retire from the House effective from 4 February.”
Despite his resignation, Mr. Mandelson will have the right to call himself “Lord Mandelson,” unless legislation is introduced to remove the title.
On Tuesday he declined to comment further.
Given Mr. Mandelson’s checkered political history and public knowledge of his association with Mr. Epstein, his appointment as an ambassador in December 2024 was seen at the time as a high-stakes gamble by Prime Minister Starmer.
Writing on social media, Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said that the “speed of his downfall only increases the scrutiny” on Mr. Starmer’s decision to send Mr. Mandelson to Washington.
Stephen Castle is a London correspondent of The Times, writing widely about Britain, its politics and the country’s relationship with Europe.
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