Lord Peter Mandelson was escorted out of his London home on Monday (Alamy)
2 min read
Lord Peter Mandelson has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
The former Labour cabinet minister was pictured being led from his London home by plain clothes police officers on Monday.
Scotland Yard has been investigating allegations that Mandelson, while serving as business secretary, passed sensitive government and market information to financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Claims that he had passed on information surfaced after the release of some of the Epstein files earlier this year.
Police had previously searched Lord Mandelson’s properties near Regent’s Park in London and in Wiltshire earlier this month as part of their investigation.
Mandelson, one of the key architects of New Labour, quit his Labour Party membership and resigned from the House of Lords earlier this month as a result of the criminal investigation into alleged misconduct in a public office.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
“He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview.
“This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has come under intense pressure over the decision to appoint Mandelson as US ambassador in December 2024, having known that the former senior minister was in contact with Epstein after Epstein was jailed in 2008 for child sex offences.
A number of Starmer’s top aides in No 10, including his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, have resigned in recent weeks.
Many women in the Labour Party believe that recent revelations over how Mandelson was appointed typify a deep-rooted misogyny within Labour, with some urging Starmer to make the scandal a watershed moment in tackling a perceived boys’ club in his party.
Separately, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, was also arrested on 19 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, after being accused of sharing sensitive information with Epstein while serving as the UK’s trade envoy.
