The leader of the Scottish Labour party, Anas Sarwar, urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign on Monday, intensifying pressure on the British leader over his decision to make Peter Mandelson the ambassador to the United States despite his close ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
“The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change,” Mr. Sarwar said at a news conference in Glasgow, adding, “There have been too many mistakes.”
Mr. Sarwar is the most senior figure in Mr. Starmer’s Labour movement so far to call on him to quit, deepening a crisis within the government that has threatened the prime minister’s grip on power.
But Mr. Sarwar is a member of the Scottish, not the Westminster, Parliament and is not a government minister, diluting his influence. And within around an hour of his remarks, about a dozen of the most important members of Mr. Starmer’s cabinet — including his deputy prime minister, his chancellor and his foreign secretary — came to his defense with strong statements of support.
John Healey, Britain’s defense secretary and someone seen as a possible caretaker leader if Mr. Starmer did resign, voiced his loyalty to the prime minister.
“The British public gave Keir a huge mandate only 18 months ago,” Mr. Healey wrote on X. “They wanted a Labour government. They want us to deliver the change we promised. They expect us to get on with the job. The PM has my fullest support in leading this government and this country.”
At least two Labour lawmakers who are considered possible challengers to Mr. Starmer’s leadership also offered their support on Monday.
Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister and a popular figure on the left of the party, urged “all my colleagues to come together, remember our values and put them into practice as a team,” adding on X that “the Prime Minister has my full support in leading us to that end.”
Wes Streeting, the health secretary who is viewed as another contender for the leadership, told Sky News that “Keir Starmer doesn’t need to resign,” and urged colleagues to “give Keir a chance.”
Mr. Sarwar is a well-known figure within the party and, before the 2024 general election, appeared to be on course to lead Labour to victory in elections to the Scottish Parliament in May. But the Labour government’s loss of popularity nationally under Mr. Starmer has damaged the party in Scotland, which now trails in the opinion polls well behind the Scottish National Party.
In his speech in Glasgow, Mr. Sarwar called Mr. Starmer “a decent man,” but said he had “to be honest about failure wherever I see it.” He said that he was not part of a plan to oust the prime minister and that there had been “no coordination” with others.
“It’s for those in No. 10, those around the cabinet table and those in the U.K. Labour Party to decide what happens next,” Mr. Sarwar said.
The back and forth over Mr. Starmer’s fate came after two of his senior aides resigned, adding to the sense of turmoil in the government.
On Sunday, Morgan McSweeney stepped down as the prime minister’s chief of staff, after acknowledging that he had urged Mr. Starmer to appoint Mr. Mandelson to the post of ambassador to Washington in 2024.
“When asked, I advised the prime minister to make that appointment, and I take full responsibility for that advice,” Mr. McSweeney said.
Less than 24 hours later, Mr. Starmer’s communications director, Tim Allan, a veteran political and public affairs operative who joined Mr. Starmer’s government only about five months ago, also quit.
Mr. Allan was a longtime friend of Mr. Mandelson’s who worked with him when Tony Blair was prime minister in the 1990s. “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No. 10 team to be built,” he said in a statement. “I wish the P.M. and his team every success.”
Mr. Starmer fired Mr. Mandelson from his diplomatic post in the United States in September, citing new information about his contacts with Mr. Epstein, a disgraced financier who had been jailed in the United States on federal sex-trafficking charges. But thousands of pages of additional emails released as part of the latest tranche of Epstein files on Jan. 30 revealed a much closer friendship than Mr. Mandelson had acknowledged.
The documents appear to show that when Mr. Mandelson was a member of the government in 2009, he shared confidential and market-sensitive information with Mr. Epstein, including an internal email sent to Gordon Brown, the prime minister at the time, outlining a potential sale of government assets.
“Interesting note that’s gone to the PM,” Mr. Mandelson wrote.
And in May 2010, the emails indicate, Mr. Mandelson gave Mr. Epstein advance notice that a bailout of 500 billion euros, about $600 billion, had been agreed to order 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.”
Mr. Mandelson also sought advice from Mr. Epstein about setting up an advisory and consultancy firm and about how to attract clients, and the emails suggest that Mr. Epstein had made tens of thousands of dollars of payments to Mr. Mandelson.
Critics of Mr. Starmer have demanded information on what he knew about the relationship between the two men when he appointed Mr. Mandelson to the post. The prime minister has insisted that Mr. Mandelson lied about the extent of his ties to Mr. Epstein.
Addressing his staff on Monday morning, Mr. Starmer expressed his fury at the former ambassador.
“The thing that makes me most angry is the undermining of the belief that politics can be a force for good and can change lives,” Mr. Starmer said in a speech to staff at 10 Downing Street, according to a readout from political aides of the closed-door speech.
“I have been absolutely clear that I regret the decision that I made to appoint Peter Mandelson,” the prime minister added. “And I’ve apologized to the victims, which is the right thing to do.”
Mr. Starmer also vowed to continue working to carry out the agenda of the Labour Party, which won an overwhelming parliamentary majority 18 months ago, ending more than 14 years of government by the Conservative Party. Mr. Starmer’s aides told a daily briefing with journalists that the prime minister did not intend to resign.
“We go forward from here,” Mr. Starmer said in his speech to staff. “We go with confidence as we continue changing the country.”
For the prime minister’s critics in the Labour Party, however, change in the country has not come fast enough, and a change in Downing Street looks increasingly necessary.
Michael D. Shear is a senior Times correspondent covering British politics and culture, and diplomacy around the world.
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