Former British Ambassador to the US resigns from the party over alleged ties to Epstein

Former British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson has announced his resignation from the Labor Party following the release of US Department of Justice documents about his ties to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who is accused of sexual crimes. This was reported by BBC.

Mandelson, who served as European Commissioner for Trade from 2004 to 2008, was dismissed from his post as ambassador to the United States in 2025 because of his past contacts with Epstein.

on January 30, the U.S. Department of Justice released 3 million pages of documents regarding Epstein's sexual crimes. The new files state that Epstein allegedly made $75,000 in money transfers to Mandelson in 2003 and 2004. Mandelson was listed as the sole beneficiary.

In addition, the documents contained photographs of Mandelson in his underwear. In one of the retouched pictures, he stands next to a woman whose face is not visible.

Mendelssohn stated that he "cannot recall the place or the woman and has no idea under what circumstances it was done."

After that, Mandelson wrote a letter to the general secretary of the Labor Party, explaining his resignation from the party by saying that he "did not want to create any further embarrassment" with these ties and noted that he felt "regret and remorse" over them.

"I want to take this opportunity to apologize again to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard much sooner. I have dedicated my life to the values and success of the Labor Party and in making this decision I believe I am acting in its best interests," he said.

At the same time, Mandelson denied any ties to Epstein.

"I believe the allegations that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, of which I have no record or recollection, are false. This requires my investigation," he emphasized in the letter.

• november 18, 2025 U.S. House of Representatives supported publication of the Epstein files. 427 members of the lower house of the U.S. parliament voted in favor.
• november 20, Trump signed the law on the publication of materials in the Epstein case.
• january 30 The US Department of Justice published a new and final version of the a package of materials containing documents, thousands of photos and videos related to the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.