Lord Mandelson

Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025.

A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson served as Labour's director of communications from 1985 to 1990, becoming one of the first people to whom the term "spin doctor" was applied and being dubbed the " Prince of Darkness" because of his "ruthless" and "media savvy" reputation.

Mandelson served as 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 as well as First Secretary of State and Lord President of the Council from 2009 to 2010. He was the European Commissioner for Trade from 2004 to 2008 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, before being elevated to the House of Lords as a Life Peer in 2008. In November 2010, he co-founded Global Counsel, a lobbying firm based in London.

Mandelson has been described as having a "significant influence" on the office of current Labour Party Leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer as a "core part" of his political network. In December 2024, Starmer nominated Mandelson as HM Ambassador to the United States.

Early life and education

Peter Mandelson was born at Hendon, Middlesex, on 21 October 1953, the younger son of the Hon. Mary Joyce Mandelson () and George Norman Mandelson (1920–1988). Of Polish Jewish extraction, his patrilineal great-great-great-grandfather was Colonel Naphtali Felthousen Mendelssohn; his great-grandfather, Levy Mandelson (1834–1891) was son-in-law of Samuel Cohen MLA; and, his grandfather, Norman Levy Mandelson (1872–1956), founded the Harrow United Synagogue. His father George Norman Mandelson (''known as'' Tony) was the advertising manager of ''The Jewish Chronicle'' who served as an officer in the Royal Dragoons during the Second World War. On his mother's side, Mandelson is a grandson of Herbert Morrison,"An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain by John O'Farrell" London County Council leader and a Cabinet Minister in the Attlee government. Mandelson was raised in Hampstead Garden Suburb; recalling his childhood, he said: "my whole upbringing was framed around the Suburb – my friendships and values".

Education

Mandelson attended the Garden Suburb School, and from 1965 to 1972 Hendon School, Hendon County Grammar School. In 1966, he appeared on stage with the local amateur theatre group, the Garden Suburb Theatre, Hampstead Garden Suburb Dramatic Society, as the eponymous lead in ''The Winslow Boy''. During his teenage years he joined the Young Communist League (UK), Young Communist League due to the UK's support of the United States' role in the Vietnam War. He was educated at the University of Oxford as an undergraduate of St Catherine's College, Oxford, where he read philosophy, politics and economics (PPE); his tutors included Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, Nicholas (''now'' Lord) Stern.

Early career

As Chairman of the British Youth Council, in 1978 Mandelson was delegated to attend the Soviet-Organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, organised World Festival of Youth and Students at Havana, Cuba. He was elected to Lambeth Borough Council in 1979 but stood down in 1982, disillusioned with the state of Labour Party (UK), Labour politics. 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, Baron Birt, John (''now'' Lord) Birt.

Political career

Labour's director of communications

In 1985, the Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock appointed him as 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; he was thus called "the Prince of Darkness". Mandelson ran the campaign at the 1986 Fulham by-election where Labour defeated the Conservative Party.

For the 1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987 general election campaign, Mandelson commissioned film director Hugh Hudson, whose ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981) had won an Academy Award for Best Picture, Oscar as Best Picture, to make a party political broadcast promoting Neil Kinnock as a potential prime minister. Tagged "Kinnock – the Movie", it led to the party leader's approval rating being raised by 16%,Steven Fieldin
"Labour Party Election Broadcast (21 May 1987)"
BFI screenonline to 19%, in polls,Tim Walke

The Telegraph, 14 July 2012 and was even repeated in another PPB slot. The election, held on 11 June 1987, returned Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party (UK), 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 Prospective parliamentary candidate, candidate for the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency of Hartlepool, which was then considered a safe seat.

As an MP

Mandelson was first elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons at the 1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 general election, and made several speeches outlining his strong support for the European Union. Although sidelined during the brief period when John Smith (Labour Party leader), 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 Leader of the Labour Party (UK), 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 Tony Blair, Mandelson was Labour's election campaign director for the 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 general election, which Labour won decisively.

Minister without Portfolio

Mandelson was appointed as a Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom), Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office, where his job was to co-ordinate within government. A few months later, 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 (including the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who had been running it). Jennie Page, the Dome project's chief executive, was abruptly sacked after a farcical opening night. 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 Lord 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".

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

In July 1998, Mandelson was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and was sworn of the Privy Council (United Kingdom), Privy Council; he launched the Year 2000 problem, Millennium Bug And Electronic Commerce Bill and a Competitiveness White paper, which he described, as 'bold, far reaching and absolutely necessary'. He also appointed a "Internet, Net Tsar" to lead the UK in what he termed the "new industrial revolution". Mandelson bought a home in Notting Hill in 1996 partly with an interest-free loan of £373,000 from Geoffrey Robinson (politician), Geoffrey Robinson, a Cabinet colleague and millionaire whose business dealings were subject to an inquiry by Mandelson's department. Mandelson contended that he had deliberately not taken part in any decisions relating to Robinson. He had not declared the loan in the Register of Members' Interests and resigned in December 1998. Mandelson had also not declared the loan to his lender (the Britannia Building Society) although they decided not to take any action, with the CEO stating "I am satisfied that the information given to us at the time of the mortgage application was accurate." Mandelson initially thought he could weather the press storm, but had to resign when it became clear that the Prime Minister thought nothing else would clear the air. In October 2000, it was reported that Robinson had "accused Peter Mandelson of lying to the Commons about the home loan affair that cost both of them their government jobs."

Later, it emerged that while in the role, Mandelson urged PM Blair to proceed with the rollout of the system which later metastasised into the Horizon IT scandal arguing that it was "only sensible choice".

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Mandelson was out of the Cabinet for ten months. In October 1999 he was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, replacing Mo Mowlam. In his very first speech in the post he mistakenly referred to himself as the "Secretary of State for Ireland". During his tenure he oversaw the creation of the Northern Ireland Assembly, devolved legislative assembly and Northern Ireland Executive, power-sharing executive and reform of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

On 24 January 2001, Mandelson resigned from the Government of the United Kingdom, Government for a second time, following accusations of using his position to influence S. P. Hinduja#Wealth, a passport application. He had contacted Home Office Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, Minister Mike O'Brien (British politician), Mike O'Brien on behalf of Hinduja Group, Srichand Hinduja, an Indian businessman who was seeking British citizenship and whose family firm was to become the main sponsor of the "Faith Zone" in the Millennium Dome. At the time Hinduja and his brothers were under investigation by the Indian Government for alleged involvement in the Bofors scandal. Mandelson insisted he had done nothing wrong and was exonerated by an independent inquiry by Anthony Hammond (solicitor), Sir Anthony Hammond, which concluded that neither Mandelson nor anyone else had acted improperly.

At the 2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 general election Mandelson was challenged by Arthur Scargill of the Socialist Labour Party (UK), Socialist Labour Party and by John Booth, a former Labour Party press officer standing as "Genuine Labour", but Mandelson was re-elected with a large majority. In his victory speech, Mandelson said: "It was said that I was facing political oblivion ... Well, they underestimated Hartlepool and they underestimated me because I am a fighter and not a quitter."

Stepping down as MP

Despite Labour success at the June 2001 general election, a third Cabinet appointment did not materialise and Mandelson indicated his interest in becoming the United Kingdom's European Commissioner when the new Barroso Commission, Commission was established in 2004. Both of Britain's Commissioners, Neil Kinnock and Chris Patten, were due to stand down. Appointment as a European Commissioner would require his resignation from Parliament, precipitating a by-election in his Hartlepool constituency. His EC appointment was announced in the summer and on 8 September 2004 Mandelson resigned his seat by petitioning to become Steward of the Manor of Northstead. Labour held the seat at the 2004 Hartlepool by-election with a much-reduced majority of 2,033 votes (equating to 40.7% of the vote), being succeeded by Iain Wright as MP for Hartlepool.

European Commissioner

On 22 November 2004, Mandelson became Britain's European Commissioner, taking the European Commissioner for Trade, trade portfolio. In October 2008 he left his post as Trade Commissioner to return to UK politics. As a former EU Commissioner, Mandelson became entitled to a £31,000 pension upon reaching the age of 65 years. It was claimed by Christopher Hope of ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 2009 that Mandelson's pension was contingent on a "duty of loyalty to the Communities", which also applied after his term in office. The TaxPayers' Alliance, which was reported to have uncovered the threat to his pension, demanded that he should declare the conflict of interest and either relinquish his EU pay cheques or resign as a minister (diplomacy), minister. "When one considers that his new ministerial post deals specifically with business, enterprise and regulatory reform – all areas that are intimately involved with EU legislation, regulation and policy –" the group said, "the conflict of interest is even more stark." Mandelson did not agree that he had a conflict of interests. "He has always had a clear view of British interests and how they are secured by our EU membership," a spokesperson said.

The website Full Fact reported in 2019 that the claim was untrue, stating that while there are rules governing the conduct of current and former EU staff members, which can lead to pensions sanctions, the European Commission had informed them that it would be "probably impossible" for such people to lose their pension for criticising the EU or supporting Brexit. Full Fact also pointed out that there had been multiple cases of both current and ex-commissioners criticising the EU – in April 2019, German former Commissioner Günter Verheugen criticised the EU's Brexit negotiating position, saying "the problem is on the EU side", while in 2017 British former Commissioner Jonathan Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford, Lord Hill had supported "getting on" with Brexit.

Peerage and return to Cabinet

On 3 October 2008, as part of Gordon Brown's Cabinet reshuffle it was announced, amid some controversy, that Mandelson would return to Government of the United Kingdom, Government in the re-designated post of Business Secretary and would be raised to the life peer, peerage, thus becoming a member of the House of Lords. On 13 October 2008 he was created Baron Mandelson, of Foy, Herefordshire, Foy in the County of Herefordshire and of Hartlepool in the County of County Durham, Durham, being Introduction (House of Lords), introduced in the House of Lords the same day. Following his return to office, Mandelson supported Expansion of Heathrow Airport, the planned Heathrow expansion. On 6 March 2009, environmental protester Leila Deen of anti-aviation group Plane Stupid approached him outside a summit on the government's low carbon industrial strategy and threw a cup of green custard in his face in protest over his support for a third runway at Heathrow Airport. The protester was cautioned on 9 April for causing "harassment, alarm or distress".

In a Cabinet reshuffle on 5 June 2009 Mandelson was appointed Lord President of the Council with the honorary title of First Secretary of State; it was also announced that the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills would be merged into his, affording him the new title of Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and that he would continue as President of the Board of Trade. Mandelson was a member of 35 of the 43 Cabinet committees and subcommittees.

In August 2009, Mandelson was widely reported to have ordered "technical measures" such as internet disconnection to be included in the draft of the Digital Economy Act 2010 after a "big lobbying operation", even though the Digital Britain report had rejected this type of punishment. ''The Independent'' reported that according to their Whitehall sources, Mandelson was persuaded that tough laws were needed to reduce online copyright infringement following an intensive lobbying campaign by influential people in the music and film industry. The paper also reported that this included a meeting with DreamWorks Pictures, DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen at the Rothschild family villa on the Greek island of Corfu. Mandelson's spokesperson claimed that there had been no discussion of internet piracy during the Corfu dinner and suggested that the decision to reverse Lord Carter's findings had been taken in late July before the trip. ''The Times'' reported after the Corfu meeting that an unnamed Whitehall source had confirmed that before this trip, Mandelson had shown little personal interest in the Digital Britain agenda, which has been ongoing for several years. According to the source of ''The Times'', Mandelson returned from holiday and effectively issued an edict that the regulation needed to be tougher.

In August 2011, a Freedom of information in the United Kingdom, Freedom of Information (FOI) request showed that Mandelson had decided to approve the inclusion of technical measures, such as the disconnection of internet access, at least two months before public consultation had finished and that he had shown little interest in the consultation. Letters from Mandelson's office document talks with Sir Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group, on 2 June 2009 and that on the following day Mandelson advised Stephen Carter, Baron Carter of Barnes, Lord Carter about the "possibility of [the Secretary of State] having a power to direct OfCom to go directly to introduce technical measures". Mandelson made the formal announcement that technical measures, including disconnection, were to be included in the Digital Economy Bill two months later on 7 August 2009.

An opinion poll conducted by the centre-left think tank Compass (think tank), Compass found in March 2009 that Mandelson was less disliked by Labour Party members than Deputy Leader Harriet Harman. This was felt to be unusual as Mandelson "historically has been unpopular among Labour members". Blair's assertion in 1996, namely that "my project will be complete when the Labour Party learns to love Peter Mandelson", was seen as prophetic in late September 2009 when Mandelson was enthusiastically received at the Labour Party Conference, party conference in Brighton.

Post-Cabinet

After the Labour Party lost the 2010 United Kingdom general election, 2010 general election, Mandelson's memoirs, ''The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour'', were published in July 2010, two months after leaving office. The memoirs were subsequently criticised by Labour leadership contenders Ed Miliband, Ed and David Miliband as too by Andy Burnham.

During this time, he was appointed President (corporate title), president of the international think tank Policy Network.

In November 2010, Mandelson and Ben Wegg-Prosser founded Global Counsel, a London-based lobbying firm with the financial support of WPP, the advertising giant.

The firm provides advice for Strategic management, corporate strategists and senior management worldwide.

Lord Mandelson has been criticised for not revealing his clientèle.
As a corporate lobbyist, he personally helped clients such as Shein, Shell plc, Shell, Palantir Technologies, Palantir, Alibaba Group, Alibaba, TikTok, and the UK private water industry obtain meetings with ministers and senior officials.Mandelson firm lobbies for TikTok, Shell and water industry in boom under Labour
4 December 2024Peter Mandelson's Consultancy Lobbied New Government on Behalf of Shell
Adam Barnetton, 31 January 2025

In 1999, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, Mandelson was an invited guest of the Bilderberg Group and attended the annual conferences. In January 2011, it was announced that Mandelson would serve as a senior adviser to the advisory investment banking firm, Lazard.

In 2013, Lord Mandelson also joined the Board of Trustees of Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft. In May 2011 it was revealed that there was speculation that Mandelson had been approached by China to be a candidate for the leadership of the International Monetary Fund, even though Mandelson had not served as a finance minister or headed a central bank. It was then speculated that Lord Mandelson's name might be put forward to succeed Pascal Lamy as Director-General of the World Trade Organization, backed by David Cameron.

In May 2012, Mandelson confirmed that he was advising Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) in selling timber products to Europe. In 2012 APP was accused of illegal logging in Indonesia and damaging the habitats of rare animals such as the Sumatran tiger. At least 67 companies worldwide, such as Tesco and Kraft Foods since 2004 and Danone since 2012 have boycotted APP. In 2013, Lord Mandelson was appointed to the revived post of High Steward of Hull, an ancient ceremonial position held by his grandfather Herbert Morrison in 1956–65 and defunct Local Government Act 1972, since 1974.

After the 2015 Labour Party leadership election (UK), 2015 Labour leadership election resulted in Jeremy Corbyn becoming the Leader of the Labour Party (UK), party leader, Mandelson stated that he believed that Labour was now unelectable, but advised party members unhappy with the situation to wait for Corbyn to demonstrate this before working to replace him. He wished for an early general election to force Corbyn out. In February 2017, he said Corbyn had "no idea in the 21st century how to conduct himself as a leader of a party putting itself forward in a democratic election" and "I work every single day to bring forward the end of [Corbyn's] tenure in office".

After the results of the 2017 UK general election became known, Mandelson conceded that Corbyn's election campaign was "very sure-footed" and the result, in which Labour gained seats and denied the Conservatives a majority, unexpected. "I was wrong" about Corbyn, he told BBC News. "I am very surprised, an earthquake has happened in British politics and I did not foresee it", although he doubted Corbyn's ability to gain a Commons majority. Two years later, at the 2019 general election, Labour suffered their worst defeat since the 1930s. Mandelson described the result as "not undeserved", arguing that Corbyn's leadership was one of the main reasons for Labour's defeat.

During the 2016 EU referendum, Mandelson sat on the Board of directors, board on Britain Stronger in Europe, the official "Remain" campaign, which was unsuccessful. Following the Brexit Referendum, Mandelson was an outspoken advocate for a second referendum.

After Roberto Azevêdo announced he would step down as Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in September 2020, Mandelson declared an interest in succeeding him. He proceeded to lobby governments around the world for the role, arguing that the WTO had "reached a fork in the road" and had to be "picked up and put back on its feet". Mandelson, an opponent of Brexit, was overlooked in favour of the Conservative Liam Fox: his prospective candidacy ceased when Fox secured the UK Government's nomination.

In 2021, it was reported that Mandelson had been advising Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on moving the party beyond Corbyn's leadership and broadening its electoral appeal. Mandelson is one of the stars of the weekly podcast ''How To Win An Election'' from ''The Times,'' presented by Matt Chorley and alongside Polly Mackenzie and Danny Finkelstein.

Contesting the 2024 University of Oxford Chancellor election, Lord Mandelson finished fourth out of thirty-eight candidates, which Lord Hague won.

Ambassadorship

In December 2024, Mandelson was nominated as List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States, HM Ambassador to the United States.

Previously opposed to Donald Trump and describing him as "little short of a white nationalist and racist," "reckless and a danger to the world" likening him to "a bully", Mandelson revised his opinion publicly asserting his respect for Trump, according to the will of the people. Lord Mandelson assumed office on 10 February 2025.

Controversies

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." On 22 April 2005, ''The Times'' revealed that Mandelson had spent the previous New Year's Eve on the yacht of Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, which was at the centre of a major EU investigation and although it did not allege impropriety, it did state that Mandelson's visit was inappropriate for a serving European Commissioner.

In 2006, ''The Daily Mail'' reported that Mandelson had received a free cruise on a yacht from Diego Della Valle, a controversial Italian mogul, raising questions as Della Valle's businesses (such as luxury shoe brand Tod's) benefited from tariffs imposed shortly thereafter by Mandelson as EU Trade Commissioner on Chinese shoes. Reports also indicated that Mandelson had been lent a private jet by Nathaniel Rothschild, 5th Baron Rothschild, Nat Rothschild, who also benefited from his decisions, while serving as Commissioner. Mandelson and Rothschild were accused of corruption leading Rothschild to sue the ''Daily Mail'' alleging libel, however Rothschild lost the case.

During the summer of 2008, Mandelson had a widely publicised disagreement with Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France. Sarkozy accused him of trying to sell out European farmers and appeared to blame his handling of the Doha round of trade talks for the "no" vote in the Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2008, Irish referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon. Mandelson said his position at world trade talks had been undermined and told the BBC he did not start the row, saying, "I stood up for myself, I'm not to be bullied." He said he believed the row was over but renewed his warnings on protectionism.

In 2008, Mandelson was hospitalised, suffering from a kidney stone. At this time, melamine added to 2008 Chinese milk scandal, milk in China had caused kidney stones and other ailments in thousands of Chinese children, killing at least six. Ironically, during the previous week Mandelson had drunk a glass of Chinese yoghurt in front of reporters in order to show his confidence in Chinese dairy products, although his own kidney stones were unrelated.

In October 2008 Mandelson was reported to have maintained private contacts over several years with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, most recently on holiday in August 2008 on Deripaska's yacht at Taverna Agni on the Greek island of Corfu. News of the contacts sparked criticism because, as European Union Trade Commissioner, Mandelson had been responsible for two decisions to cut aluminium tariffs that had benefited Deripaska's United Company Rusal. Mandelson denied that there had been a conflict of interest and insisted that he had never discussed aluminium tariffs with Deripaska. On 26 October 2008 the Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague claimed the "whole country" wanted "transparency" about Mandelson's previous meetings with Deripaska. In response, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Mandelson's dealings with Deripaska had been "found to be above board". Mandelson said that meeting business figures from "across the range" in emerging economies was part of his brief as EU Trade Commissioner. On 29 October 2008, while Mandelson was on a ministerial visit to Moscow, it was alleged in the British press that Valery Pechenkin, the head of security at Deripaska's company Basic Element, had organised a swift entry visa for Mandelson when he turned up in Moscow to visit Deripaska in 2005.

In June 2013, writing for the Progressive Britain, Progress website, Mandelson warned Labour it risked harming its election chances if affiliated trade unions continued to "manipulate parliamentary selections" as was alleged in the 2013 Labour Party Falkirk candidate selection controversy. In April 2014, it was reported that Mandelson had strong ties to Russian conglomerate Sistema.

Peter Mandelson has been criticised for being a member of the House of Lords while running a lobbying firm.New UK ambassador to US still holds stake in lobbying firm for TikTok
David Sheppard and Jim Pickard, ''The Financial Times'', 21 January 2025 In 2021, he was the only Labour peer to vote against an amendment denouncing Xinjiang internment camps, genocide in Xinjiang.

In 2019, UK's Channel 4 aired an episode of ''Dispatches (TV programme), Dispatches'' in which a source close to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein claimed that Peter Mandelson (while serving as a UK Cabinet Minister) made a phone call to Epstein in order to set up a meeting with Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan. In June 2023, an internal JPMorgan report from 2019, filed to a New York court, found that "Jeffrey Epstein appears to maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and [Peter] Lord Mandelson, a senior member of the British Government." In February 2025, when asked about his relationship with Epstein by the ''Financial Times'', Mandelson said "I'm not going to go into this. It's an FT obsession and frankly you can all fuck off. OK?"

Non-political commitments

Mandelson served, until 8 October 2008, as President of the Central School of Speech and Drama. He was replaced in this un-remunerated post by playwright Harold Pinter, who died two months later.

Guest of honour in 2011 at Herbert Morrison Primary School in Vauxhall, South London, which was hosting a special themed day in honour of Herbert Morrison, Mandelson's grandfather, after whom the school was named,

Lord Mandelson served as Chancellor (education), Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University from 2016 to 2025.

Personal life

Mandelson is gay and said to be "intensely private" about his personal life. Mandelson considers himself a good role model for gay people because of his success in public office. During his time in government, the press – tabloid and broadsheet alike – often portrayed Mandelson as effeminate through "the linguistic resources of camp" and narcissistic – sometimes including coded references to homosexual acts in their descriptions of his actions. Having lived in London with Dom (title), dom Reinaldo Avila da Silva , a Brazilians, Brazilian translator since March 1998, Lord Mandelson Same-sex marriage, wed his partner on 28 October 2023. The couple have a Collie, collie dog named Jock, who has proved popular at parties in the British ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C., British ambassador's residence.

Attempted outings and harassment

While his sexual orientation was known to friends, colleagues and constituents, in 1987 the ''News of the World'' ran an issue that attempted to out Mandelson as gay. Mandelson preferred to keep his personal life private and as such did not respond. Mandelson was outed again by Matthew Parris in 1998 on the BBC programme ''Newsnight''. This led to press harassment of his partner, with the ''Daily Express'' sending a reporter to take pictures of him while he was at his languages course.

An internal investigation later found that the photos had been obtained without Avila da Silva's consent and images of him attempting to cover his face had been secretly deleted. Mandelson phoned the BBC and the Press Complaints Commission following ''Newsnight'' broadcast, and an internal memo was later sent within the BBC, stating: "under no circumstances whatsoever should allegations about the private life of Peter Mandelson be repeated or referred to on any broadcast."

In the media

* BBC Four's ''Storyville (TV series), Storyville'' in 2010, ''Mandelson: The Real PM?'', directed by Hannah Rothschild (film maker), Hannah Rothschild, a fly-on-the-wall documentary about Mandelson as Business Secretary in the run up to the 2010 UK General Election.
* Mandelson was portrayed by Paul Rhys in the 2003 Channel 4 drama ''The Deal (2003 film), The Deal''.
* Mandelson was portrayed by Mark Gatiss in the 2015 Channel 4 drama ''Coalition (film), Coalition''.
* Mandelson was portrayed by Nigel Planer in the 2011 comedy drama ''The Hunt for Tony Blair''.
* The ''Little Britain (TV series), Little Britain'' character Sebastian Love was based on Mandelson.

Honours

* Life peer, UK Baron (2008)
* Grand Officer, Order of the Star of Italy (2016)
* Officer, Légion d'honneur (2017)

Bibliography

* (with Roger Liddle) ''The Blair Revolution: Can New Labour Deliver?'' Faber, 1996
** ''The Blair Revolution Revisited'', (2nd ed), Politicos, 2002,
* (Author, contrib.) ''The City in Europe and the World'', European Research Forum at London Metropolitan University, 2006
* ''The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour'' Harper Press, 2010

Works

* Mandelson, Peter (1997):
Labour's next steps
' Fabian Society
* Mandelson, Peter (2002): ''The Blair Revolution Revisited'' Politico's,
*

References

Notes

Further reading

* Jones, Nicholas (2000): ''Sultans of Spin: The Media and the New Labour Government'' Orion Books,
* Donald Macintyre (journalist), Macintyre, Donald (1999): ''Mandelson: The Biography'' HarperCollins,
*
* Rawnsley, Andrew (2001): ''Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour'' Penguin Books,
* Routledge, Paul (1999): ''Mandy: The Unauthorised Biography of Peter Mandelson'' Simon & Schuster,
* Seldon, Anthony (2005): ''Blair'' The Free Press,

External links

Lord Mandelson, former MP – They Work For You


Peter Mandelson profile at UK Parliament

Peter Mandelson Financial Times

Policy Network

Profile: Peter Mandelson
''BBC News'', 3 October 2008
13 August 2004
* , PublicAffairsAsia.com, 18 August 2008, on sovereign wealth funds

Peter Mandelson: Interview
on New Statesman, 1 October 2008.
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Social Democracy Observatory
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