The British police said on Tuesday that they had released Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the United States, following an arrest the previous day amid allegations that he had passed confidential government information to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
London’s Metropolitan Police, which began an investigation into Mr. Mandelson earlier this month, said in a statement on Monday, “Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office.”
The statement added that the man had been taken to a police station in London to be formally interviewed. He was released on bail pending further investigation, the police said in an updated statement early Tuesday morning.
The police did not name Mr. Mandelson, in line with British rules that ban them from identifying suspects before any charges are brought. But footage broadcast by the BBC showed Mr. Mandelson being led from his home into an unmarked police car by plainclothes police officers and driven away, at around 4:30 p.m. local time. Mr. Mandelson was not handcuffed and was carrying a bottle of water.
The arrest is the latest dramatic development in Britain to follow the U.S. Justice Department’s release of files related to Mr. Epstein, and marks a new low for Mr. Mandelson, a veteran Labour Party strategist and one of Britain’s best known political figures.
It comes just days after the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince, on suspicion of the same offense — misconduct in public office, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Official guidance to British prosecutors says that the offense is committed when a public officer, such as an elected politician or government official, “willfully neglects to perform their duty” or “willfully misconducts themselves” in a way that abuses the public’s trust.
Previously a Labour lawmaker representing Hartlepool in northeast England, Mr. Mandelson served as a minister in Tony Blair’s government between 1997 and 2001, and under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2008 to 2010.
In September, Mr. Mandelson, 72, was fired from his diplomatic post in Washington when the depth and duration of his friendship with Mr. Epstein became clear after the publication of emails between them.
The release of new material by the U.S. Department of Justice on Jan. 30 increased the scrutiny of Mr. Mandelson’s relationship with the sex offender and provoked a political crisis for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The latest batch of documents appears to show that in 2009, when Mr. Mandelson was a senior cabinet minister, he gave potentially confidential and market sensitive information to Mr. Epstein.
Mr. Mandelson has not been charged with a crime.
He resigned from the Labour Party on Feb. 1, the same day that it was revealed that the police were investigating him over the accusations. He has not publicly commented since then.
Previously, he said that the documents released by the Department of Justice did not “indicate wrongdoing or misdemeanor on my part.”
Mr. Starmer has acknowledged that he knew of Mr. Mandelson’s links to Mr. Epstein when he appointed him as ambassador to the United States, but has said that Mr. Mandelson lied about the extent of the relationship during vetting procedures.
Under pressure from lawmakers, the government has agreed to release internal documents relating to the appointment of Mr. Mandelson, although particularly sensitive ones will first be submitted to a parliamentary committee that deals with security and intelligence matters.
On Monday, Darren Jones, a senior cabinet minister, said in Parliament that the material would be published in batches, rather than all at once, with the “first tranche of documents very shortly, in early March.” However he added that a “subset” of those slated for the initial release would be held back so as not to compromise the police investigation into Mr. Mandelson.
In addition to the arrests of Mr. Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the furor in Britain has prompted the resignation of two of Mr. Starmer’s closest aides, who were also political allies of Mr. Mandelson. Morgan McSweeney, who served as the prime minister’s chief of staff, and Tim Allan, who was Mr. Starmer’s director of communications, resigned earlier this month.
The crisis also led Anas Sarwar, the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, to call on Mr. Starmer to stand down, but cabinet ministers and Labour lawmakers rallied around the prime minister.
Francesca Regalado contributed reporting.
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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