Mandelson scandal: must Starmer go?
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is coming under increasing pressure within his own party over the Peter Mandelson affair. Media have quoted Labour MPs as saying that the prime minister's days were numbered. Mandelson is alleged to have passed on confidential government information to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in the early 2000s. In 2024, Starmer appointed Mandelson as ambassador to the United States despite knowing about his relationship with Epstein.
Prince of Darkness as his ambassador
Starmer made a huge mistake, La Stampa concludes:
“The murky and toxic wave triggered by the paedophile Epstein has also reached the British side of the Atlantic, poisoning the atmosphere and threatening to drag Prime Minister Starmer himself down with it. With his offers of sordid favours the US financier built up a network of high-level connections there too, within the royal family, in the business world and in politics, too. ... Whoever gave Mandelson the nickname 'the Prince of Darkness' of British politics must have known him well - far better than Starmer himself, who appointed him UK ambassador to Washington just a year ago, even though he knew about his former ties to Epstein.”
Paying for gullibility
The Irish Times also concludes that Starmer made serious mistakes:
“Anger at the prime minister's credulity has spread from the opposition to Labour backbenches, where many are now privately and some openly calling for him to step down. ... Starmer, who boasts he was elected to clean up British politics, clearly succumbed, as did prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown before him, to the myth, heavily self-promoted, of Mandelson's uncanny Machiavellian skills. Starmer is now paying for his gullibility and his poor judgement.”
Labour lacks an alternative
The Prime Minister will remain firmly in the saddle for the time being, The Independent is convinced:
“All the candidates are no doubt compiling lists of MPs who might support them, but until they start the serious business of asking people to submit nomination papers, it is a phoney war. And they are holding back from going to the next stage because their chances of success are not yet good enough to justify the risk. ... Starmer was in serious trouble before the Epstein files were published, and his position is now worse. But he will survive for now, because there is no apparently safe option to whom Labour MPs can turn.”
Like in Game of Thrones
In a Telegram post picked up by Echo, political scientist Alexei Makarkin draws parallels with Game of Thrones:
“Peter Mandelson's career was defined by a remarkable political resilience; it had many ups and downs. The current down which has led to his resignation from the Labour Party and his exit from the House of Lords is probably the last one. [Actor] Aidan Gillen, who played Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish in the series Game of Thrones, took Mandelson as the prototype for his character. The only thing missing from the series of scandals was a connection to Epstein - now it's officially documented.”
A blow to the PM's authority
The Mandelson scandal has completely undermined Starmer's credibility, says The Daily Telegraph:
“What possessed the Prime Minister to make Lord Mandelson ambassador? The answer is that Sir Keir gambled that the peer's ability as a courtier would enable him to get alongside the Trump administration in Washington as, indeed, it did. In other words, Sir Keir was apparently not especially bothered about the victims of Epstein's depravities provided his choice for the post could deliver political dividends. ...The Prime Minister may promise to pass on information to the police, rail about 'betrayal' and fulminate about being lied to by Lord Mandelson. But it is all too late.”
A huge mistake
Had Starmer remained true to his pragmatic principles he would never have appointed Mandelson as US ambassador, and thus spared himself a lot of trouble, says The Economist:
“If Sir Keir had a purpose, it was stopping things like this. He was a politician of process rather than conviction. Following the erratic Boris Johnson, whose three years in power were marred by executive chaos, this had some appeal. ... In a party full of lifers and riddled by - at times - psychopathic factionalism, Sir Keir was supposed to be a refreshing, fair-minded pragmatist. Yet Lord Mandelson was appointed above all thanks to the people he knew and for the wing of the party he represented.”