The end of a scandal-tainted career: Mandelson had no alternative but to resign

In the end, it has been a scandal too far, even for Peter Mandelson.

The latest explosive Epstein revelations first forced him to resign from his beloved Labour Party, he said, to save the party from "further embarrassment".

But then the furore over the disclosure that he leaked highly confidential and market sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary under Gordon Brown was worse than embarrassing.

It led to calls for a police investigation over allegations of misconduct in a public office, which the Metropolitan Police is currently reviewing. Brown's allies called it a "betrayal of trust" and some MPs accused Mandelson of treachery.

Then, after the prime minister told the cabinet Mandelson had "let the country down" and should no longer be a member of the House of Lords or use his title, the disgraced now former peer threw in the towel and told new Lord Speaker, Lord Michael Forsyth, of his "intention to retire" from the Lords.

There's no way back now. He's finished. And he could yet face prosecution and - potentially - jail, if convicted.

It’s difficult to imagine what could be more embarrassing than this weekend’s disclosure of payments by Jeffrey Epstein to his then partner, lobbying a Labour chancellor on tax policy and being photographed wearing nothing more than a T-shirt and a pair of underpants.

And the resignations must have been a horrible wrench as well as a humiliation for Lord Mandelson, who had - as he lamented - dedicated his life to the Labour Party.

A scandal-tainted career

Indeed, he was born into the Labour Party. His grandfather was Herbert Morrison, one of the giants of Clement Attlee's post-war government.

But it was his attraction to the rich and famous and his fondness for the trappings of wealth that brought about what will be the final downfall of his scandal-tainted career.

He famously told tech executives when he was Sir Tony Blair's trade and industry secretary in 1998: "We are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich."

Then, acutely aware of the risk of damaging headlines, the former spin doctor known as the "Prince of Darkness", added hurriedly: "As long as they pay their taxes."

His final demise comes just months after Sir Keir was forced to sack him from the top diplomatic post of UK ambassador to the US over his association with the convicted sex offender Epstein.

But Epstein was by no means the first Mandelson scandal. He had to resign from Sir Tony's cabinet twice, first over an undeclared bank loan and then over intervening in a passport application by a top Indian businessman.

A controversial and divisive figure

Over four decades, nearly all on the frontline of British politics, he was a consummate political networker, but also one of the most divisive figures in public life and his appointment as ambassador was seen by critics as an act of cronyism by Sir Keir.

Acknowledging that Lord Mandelson - awarded a peerage in 2008 by Gordon Brown - was a controversial and divisive figure, Sir Tony declared in 1996: "My project will be complete when the Labour Party learns to love Peter Mandelson."

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The Washington role is seen as the most glittering and important diplomatic post in the UK government. The perks of the job include the luxurious ambassador's residence in Massachusetts Avenue, a magnificent Queen Anne mansion designed by top architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.

When he appointed him as ambassador, Sir Keir saw Lord Mandelson as a skilful and persuasive link to the president, with his trade experience from his time as a cabinet minister and Brussels commissioner a vital qualification for the job.

Never one for false modesty, Lord Mandelson claimed that when he first walked into the Oval Office the president said to him: "God, you're a good-looking fellow, aren't you?"

Diplomatic triumphs

Lord Mandelson was credited with several diplomatic triumphs in Washington. He played a vital role in ensuring the UK escaped the worst of Trump's tariffs and he was instrumental in securing a much sought-after trade deal between the UK and the US.

And his silky PR skills were displayed when during Sir Keir's first visit to the White House in February, the PM theatrically pulled out of his inside pocket a letter from King Charles inviting the US president to visit the UK.

It was a classic Lord Mandelson stunt and confirmed he'd lost none of the flair for presentation he'd first deployed when he was Labour leader Neil Kinnock's spin doctor in the 1980s.

Lord Mandelson's high-profile political career began as a TV producer until his appointment as Labour's director of communications under Kinnock in 1985.

He was seen as a brilliant if ruthless spin doctor, who masterminded the birth of New Labour but would berate newspaper editors when unfavourable stories were written by their political journalists.

Another classic Lord Mandelson attempt to kill an embarrassing story was to tell the journalist who wrote or broadcast it in a sneering voice: "That is a story that I believe will remain an exclusive."

He became MP for Hartlepool in 1992 and helped propel Sir Tony to the leadership of the party after John Smith's death in 1994, a move that led to a bitter feud with Mr Brown.

There's an amusing story about Mandelson in Hartlepool, which he claimed is a myth and blames Kinnock for. It's claimed he ordered "some of that delicious guacamole" in a fish and chip shop, mistaking mushy peas for avocado dip.

It was a perfect Mandelson story, ridiculing his metropolitan tastes and ignorance of working-class life. But he claims the mistake was made by a young American woman student who was helping Labour's campaign.

'I'm a fighter, not a quitter'

His first cabinet job, trade and industry secretary in 1998, lasted only five months after he was forced to quit after failing to declare a home loan from Labour millionaire Geoffrey Robinson to his building society.

His resignation was similar in one respect to the demise of former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner last year, in that it was over irregularities in buying a property: in Hove in her case, in fashionable Notting Hill in his.

He bounced back as Northern Ireland secretary in 1999 and was said to enjoy the luxury of Hillsborough Castle, which went with the job. But he was forced to resign a second time over claims he helped businessman Srichand Hinduja with an application for UK citizenship.

When he held his seat in Hartlepool in the 2001 general election, Mandelson made a passionate and defiant victory speech at his count in which he declared: "I'm a fighter, not a quitter."

Yet three years later he did quit as an MP, when he became a trade commissioner in Brussels, serving a four-year term during which he had a spectacular row with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who accused him of selling out French farmers in trade talks.

There were more controversies arising from his time in Brussels. In 2006, it was reported that he received a free cruise on a yacht from an Italian mogul who was said to have benefited from tariffs on Chinese shoes when Mandelson was EU trade commissioner.

Reports also claimed he had been lent a private jet by banking and business tycoon Nat Rothschild. And it was later reported that he had a holiday in August 2008 on the yacht of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska off the Greek island of Corfu.

Mr Deripaska was said to have benefited from a cut in EU aluminium tariffs introduced by Mandelson. But prime minister Brown said Mandelson's dealings with Mr Deripaska had been "found to be above board".

His political comeback

After Brussels came perhaps his most spectacular and unexpected political comeback, when in 2008 his old foe Brown, by now prime minister but facing challenges to his leadership, brought him back as business secretary with a peerage.

A year later, Brown awarded him the grand title, previously held by Michael Heseltine under John Major, of first secretary of state, a position he held until Labour's election defeat in 2010.

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To the end, Lord Mandelson remained a devoted Blairite rather than a soulmate of Mr Brown. And in the run-up to Sir Keir's 2024 general election victory last year, he was back in the fold, offering advice on campaigning and policy.

He got his reward with the plum job of ambassador in Washington. But his links to a very American scandal, involving the disgraced financier and sex offender Epstein, pushed him out of political life.

He may have hoped for yet another comeback, but that won't happen now. There are calls from opposition MPs for him to be stripped of his peerage. Currently on leave of absence from the Lords, he says he doesn't plan to return.

But what will hurt him most will be being forced to sever his link with the Labour Party that he was born into and which he served all his life. Until now. It's over.

(c) Sky News 2026: The end of a scandal-tainted career: Mandelson had no alternative but to resign