Lord Mandelson says he has resigned his membership of the Labour Party as he does not want to ‘cause further embarrassment’ by his links to the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The former British cabinet minister was sacked as US ambassador last year because of his past connections to Epstein, appeared in the latest release of files by the US Department of Justice on Friday.
Documents suggest Epstein made $75,000 in payments to Lord Mandelson in three separate $25,000 transactions in 2003 and 2004, according to BBC News.
In his letter to Labour’s general secretary, Lord Mandelson said: “I have been further linked to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this.”
He added: “Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me.
“While doing this I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party.”
Earlier in the day, Lord Mandelson said he did not know whether the documents about the payments were authentic.
He had reiterated his regret for ‘ever having known Epstein’ and for continuing his association following the disgraced financier’s conviction, apologising ‘unequivocally to the women and girls who suffered’.
Lord Mandelson was sent to Washington by Sir Keir Starmer in December 2024 as the UK’s ambassador, but was sacked the following September after further revelations emerged about his friendship with Epstein.
Emails revealed he had been in contact with Epstein after the US financier’s 2008 conviction, sending a string of supportive messages.
Images of the former UK ambassador to the US in his underwear have also been uncovered in the latest tranche of Epstein files.
In a redacted picture, he is seen standing next to a female, whose face is not visible.
Lord Mandelson has said he “cannot place the location or the woman and I cannot think what the circumstances were”.
It is not known when or where the images of Lord Mandelson and the female were taken.
Being named or pictured in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing.
- A second woman yesterday alleged that she was sent to the UK by Epstein for a sexual encounter with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, her lawyer told the BBC.
The encounter allegedly occurred at the former prince’s residence, Royal Lodge, in 2010. The woman, who is not British, was in her 20s at the time.
The woman’s lawyer said that after spending the night with Andrew, she says she was also given a tour of Buckingham Palace and tea.
- Los Angeles 2028 Olympics chief Casey Wasserman has apologised for communicating with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago, after the publication of a series of personal emails between the two.
New files related to Epstein, Maxwell’s former boyfriend, included flirtatious email exchanges between Wasserman, who was married at the time, and Maxwell dating from 2003.
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