Peter Mandelson

Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson (born 21 October 1953), is a British former Labour Party politician and lobbyist and former diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004. He served in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's cabinets as Minister without portfolio, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Business Secretary and First Secretary of State. He was the British Ambassador to the United States in 2025 under Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Mandelson served as director of communications from 1985 to 1990 during the leadership of Neil Kinnock. Sidelined during John Smith's leadership from 1992 to 1994, Mandelson became close to Blair and Brown. He was widely regarded as one of the architects of New Labour and a key adviser to Blair, contributing to the party's election victories in 1997 and 2001.

Mandelson served as Minister without Portfolio from 1997 to 1998, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and again from 2008 to 2010, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1999 to 2001, and First Secretary of State and Lord President of the Council from 2009 to 2010. He was European Commissioner for Trade from 2004 to 2008, being elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer in 2008 to serve in the Brown cabinet as business secretary. After Labour lost the 2010 general election, Mandelson co-founded the lobbying firm Global Counsel. He remained active in Labour politics, and was an adviser to Starmer before Labour's return to office at the 2024 general election. During his short tenure as ambassador to the United States, Mandelson focused on promoting trade and fostering relationships with the US government during the second presidency of Donald Trump.

Mandelson's career has been marked by controversy, which resulted in his twice resigning from the Cabinet and being dismissed as ambassador in 2025. He bought a home in 1996 partly with an interest-free loan of £373,000 from Geoffrey Robinson, a Cabinet colleague whose business dealings were subject to an inquiry by Mandelson's department. He had not declared the loan in the Register of Members' Interests and resigned in December 1998. In January 2001 he again resigned from the government following accusations of using his position to influence a passport application for S. P. Hinduja.

In September 2025, a scandal arose concerning Mandelson's association with the convicted child sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, which had been revealed in 2019. Following reports that Mandelson had continued his friendship with Epstein after his 2008 conviction, he was dismissed as ambassador by Starmer. In February 2026, further reports alleged that Mandelson and his husband had received payments from Epstein, and that in 2009 and 2010 Mandelson had passed sensitive government information to Epstein. Mandelson subsequently resigned from the Labour Party and from the House of Lords, and the Metropolitan Police opened an investigation into the allegations. He was later arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and then released after paying bail pending further investigation.

Early life and education

Peter Benjamin Mandelson was born on 21 October 1953 in Hendon, Middlesex, the younger son of George Norman ("Tony") Mandelson (1920–1988) and Mary Joyce. His father George was advertising manager of The Jewish Chronicle and a former officer in the Royal Dragoons during the Second World War. His mother Mary was the daughter of Herbert Morrison and his first wife, Margaret Kent. Morrison was a London County Council leader and a cabinet minister in the Attlee government.

Of Polish Jewish extraction, his grandfather, Norman Mandelson, founded the Harrow United Synagogue. Mandelson was raised in Hampstead Garden Suburb; recalling his childhood, he said "my whole upbringing was framed around the Suburb – my friendships and values."

Mandelson attended the Garden Suburb School, and from 1965 to 1972 Hendon County Grammar School. During his teenage years he joined the Young Communist League due to the UK's support of the United States' role in the Vietnam War. From 1972 to 1976, he read philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at the University of Oxford where he was an undergraduate student at St Catherine's College, and his tutors included Nicholas Stern.

Early career

Mandelson worked in the Economic Department of the Trades Union Congress between 1977 and 1978; from 1978 to 1980, he was Chairman of the British Youth Council. In 1978, he was delegated to attend the Soviet-organised World Festival of Youth and Students at Havana, Cuba. He was elected to Lambeth Council at a by-election in 1979 but stood down in 1982, disillusioned with the state of Labour politics during the leadership of Michael Foot. Mandelson then worked from 1982 to 1985 as a television producer at London Weekend Television on Weekend World, where he formed a friendship with his superior John Birt.

Political career

Director of communications

In 1985, the Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock appointed Mandelson the party's director of communications. As director, he was one of the first people in Britain to whom the term "spin doctor" was applied, and he was nicknamed the "Prince of Darkness". Mandelson ran the campaign at the 1986 Fulham by-election where Labour defeated the Conservative Party.

For the 1987 general election campaign, Mandelson commissioned the film director Hugh Hudson, whose Chariots of Fire (1981) had won an Oscar as Best Picture, to make a party political broadcast promoting Kinnock as a potential prime minister. Tagged "Kinnock – the Movie", it led to the party leader's approval rating being raised by 16%, to 19%, in polls, and was even repeated in another PPB slot. The election, held on 11 June 1987, returned Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives for the third time, although Labour gained 20 seats, and, this time, convincingly pushed the SDP–Liberal Alliance into third place. Opponents termed the Labour Party's election campaign "a brilliantly successful election defeat". He ceased being a Labour Party official in 1990 when he was selected as Labour candidate for the constituency of Hartlepool, which was then considered a safe seat.

Member of Parliament

Mandelson was first elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general election which John Major's Conservatives won, and made several speeches outlining his strong support for the European Union. Although sidelined during the brief period when John Smith led the Labour Party, Mandelson was by now close to two shadow cabinet members – Gordon Brown and Tony Blair – each regarded as potential future party leaders. Following Smith's sudden death on 12 May 1994, Mandelson opted to back Blair for the leadership, believing him a superior communicator to Brown, and played a leading role in the leadership campaign. This created acrimony between Mandelson and Brown, though they were considered to be allies in the Labour Party.

In 1994, Kate Garvey suggested that Mandelson (who was at the time being derided by the trades unions and other Labour factions), should adopt a nom de guerre throughout Blair's leadership bid, so that he might conceal his considerable role within the campaign team. Mandelson agreed to be called "Bobby" for the duration and was thanked by Blair using this pseudonym in his victory speech. After becoming a close ally and trusted adviser to Blair, Mandelson was Opposition spokesman on the Civil Service from 1995 to 1997, and was Labour's election campaign director for the 1997 general election, which Labour won decisively. He also won re-election in the 2001 and 2005 general elections.

Parliamentary expenses

During the 2009 expenses scandal, The Daily Telegraph raised questions about the timing of Mandelson's second home allowance claim, dating from 2004, saying, "Lord Mandelson billed the taxpayer for almost £3,000 of work on his constituency home in Hartlepool less than a week after announcing his decision to stand down as an MP." Mandelson said in a statement, "The work done was necessary maintenance. All claims made were reasonable and submitted consistent with parliamentary rules."

Minister without Portfolio

Mandelson served as a Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office from May 1997 to July 1998, when his job was to co-ordinate government from outside the cabinet. A few months after his appointment, he also acquired responsibility for the Millennium Dome, after Blair decided to go ahead with the project despite the opposition of most of the Cabinet and in the face of media hostility. Jennie Page, the Dome project's chief executive, resigned in February 2000 after a chaotic opening night and disappointing attendance figures. In June 2000, in what was seen as a reference to the close interest in the Dome from Mandelson, known at the time as so-called "Dome Secretary" and his successor Charlie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, Page told the House of Commons Select Committee for Culture and Heritage: "I made several attempts to persuade ministers that standing back from the Dome would be good for them as well as good for the Dome".