British police have opened a formal investigation into whether Peter Mandelson, one of the UK’s most prominent political figures of the past three decades, committed misconduct in public office through his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the move on Tuesday, just hours after Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords as pressure mounted over newly released US government documents detailing his relationship with the late financier and convicted sex offender.
“I can confirm that the Metropolitan Police has now launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former Government Minister, for misconduct in public office offence,” Metropolitan Police Commander Ella Marriott said in a statement, stopping short of naming Mandelson.
“The Met will continue to assess all relevant information brought to our attention as part of this investigation and won’t be commenting any further at this time.”
The investigation follows the publication of a fresh tranche of US Department of Justice files linked to Epstein. Among them are emails sent by Mandelson to Epstein that reference sensitive government matters, including early discussions around the 500 billion euro ($590bn) bailout of the eurozone in 2010.
Other documents appear to show Epstein transferred tens of thousands of dollars to bank accounts linked to Mandelson or his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva. Mandelson has said he does not recall receiving such payments and has said he will examine the documents to establish whether they are genuine.
The files also point to a continued friendly relationship between Mandelson and Epstein after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for sex offences. One image included in the release shows Mandelson in his underwear next to a woman whose face was obscured by US authorities.
Mandelson told the BBC that he “cannot place the location or the woman, and I cannot think what the circumstances were”.
Political fallout intensified rapidly in London. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his cabinet he was “appalled by the information” contained in the documents and warned that further damaging details could yet emerge, according to a Downing Street readout.
Starmer ordered an “urgent” civil service review of all contacts Mandelson had with Epstein during his time in government. “The alleged passing on of emails of highly sensitive government business was disgraceful,” the prime minister said, adding that he was not yet “reassured that the totality of information had yet emerged” about the relationship.
Mandelson was dismissed from his role as UK ambassador to the United States in September after earlier revelations about his Epstein connections. On Sunday, he resigned from the Labour Party, saying he wanted to avoid causing “further embarrassment”.
In an interview with The Times, conducted late last month and published on Tuesday, Mandelson described Epstein as a “master manipulator”, adding, “I’ve had a lot of bad luck, no doubt some of it of my own making”.
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