Peter Mandelson asked for a £500,000 payout after being sacked as US ambassador, files reveal

The first set of files related to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the US were released by the government today, revealing details of the former Labour peer’s relationship with the infamous sex trafficker.

The files reveal Lord Mandelson requested the government “pay out the remainder of the four-year salary costs of the fixed term appointment”, which would have amounted to £547,201.

Instead, he was given £40,330 to cover the three-month notice period in his contract, plus an additional £34,670 severance payment.

The documents also show the PM was told his hiring process seemed “weirdly rushed” in a call before Mandelson was appointed ambassador.

Read more: Peter Mandelson no longer under bail conditions but investigation continues

Elsewhere, the documents reveal Mandelson played a key role in organising a meeting between Epstein and former PM Tony Blair on the 14th of May, 2002.

One document shows Sir Keir Starmer was warned there was a “general reputational risk” over Mandelson’s relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein before giving him the role of ambassador to the US.

The Government has released an initial batch of papers relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment after MPs ordered the publication of the files.

A “due diligence” document drawn up in December 2024 before Lord Mandelson’s appointment to the Washington role noted a series of reports detailing his links with Epstein.

The document noted that after Epstein was first convicted of procuring an underage girl in 2008 “their relationship continued across 2009-2011, beginning when Lord Mandelson was business minister and continuing after the end of the Labour government”, noting that “Mandelson reportedly stayed in Epstein’s house while he was in jail in June 2009”.

The report given to Sir Keir flagged that Lord Mandelson maintained ties to Jeffrey Epstein after he was convicted of procuring an underage girl and stayed at his house while he was imprisoned.

Elsewhere in the documents, it is reported officials were told to carry out welfare checks on Mandelson every day “for a while” after his sacking.

The order came in an email on February 4, the day MPs approved the release of documents relating to his appointment as ambassador to Washington.

The message to Foreign Office officials said: “It would also be great to know that there has been a welfare check and to do one each day if that’s OK for a while.”

In a section entitled Relationship With Jeffrey Epstein, the report said: “A 2019 report commissioned by JPMorgan found that Epstein appeared to ‘maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew the Duke of York and Lord Peter Mandelson, a senior member of the British government’.

“The report cited Epstein’s personal records which showed contact beginning in 2002 and continuing throughout the 2000s.

“After Epstein was first convicted of procuring an underage girl in 2008, their relationship continued across 2009-2011, beginning when Lord Mandelson was business minister and continuing after the end of the Labour government. Mandelson reportedly stayed in Epstein’s House while he was in jail in June 2009.“

In 2014 Mandelson also agreed to be a ‘founding citizen’ of an ocean conservation group founded by Ghislaine Maxwell, and funded by Epstein.

“On reporting of the JP Morgan report, Lord Mandelson’s spokesperson said ‘Lord Mandelson very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein. This connection has been a matter of public record for some time. He never had any kind of professional or business relationship with Epstein in any form’.”

The report also pointed to a 2024 Telegraph report on the pair’s links. It also said: “The Cabinet Office holds official records that are likely to be released by the National Archives early next year, which relate to a Tony Blair meeting with Epstein that was facilitated by Mandelson.”

The due diligence report concluded: “To note – general reputational risk.”

Mandelson “should never have been appointed”, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said following the release of today’s files.

In his statement, Mr Jones told the Commons: “The victims of Epstein have lived with trauma that most of us can barely comprehend. They’ve had to relive it again and again, and they have had to see accountability delayed and too often denied.

“We must all learn this hard lesson and a culture which dismisses women’s experiences far, far too often and too easily, Peter Manderson should never have been appointed, and the Government will comply with the humble address.”

He also said the Government is “exploring whether the committee can tighten rules on lobbying and paid advocacy to bring the Lords in line with the Commons procedures”.

Shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart said it is “unacceptable” that the documents about Peter Mandelson’s appointment were published so shortly before the statement, and it is “convenient” that it was after Prime Minister’s Questions.

He said: “This whole business is really about transparency, and the fact is that the Government’s had to be dragged to do this by members on both sides of this House.

“And so to produce a 135-page document and put it online 23 minutes before this debate is really not acceptable at all.

“I do respect the Chief Secretary coming and doing this himself, but it really ought to be the Prime Minister sitting there, because all of this is about the Prime Minister’s judgment.

“And so it’s very convenient that this document was published after Prime Minister’s Questions today, when the man who made the decision, the man whose judgment is in question, could have been put under scrutiny by honourable members.”