Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, lobbyist and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

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 In public relations and politics, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through knowingly providing a biased interpretation of an event. While traditional public relations and advertising may manage their presentation of facts, "spin" often i ...

" 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 The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. A committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, it was first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centur ...

in 1998 and again from 2008 to 2010,

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also referred to as Northern Ireland Secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The offi ...

from 1999 to 2001 as well as

First Secretary of State First Secretary of State is an office that is sometimes held by a minister of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term ...

and

Lord President of the Council The Lord President of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lor ...

from 2009 to 2010. He was the

European Commissioner for Trade The European Commissioner for Trade (sometimes referred to as the ''EU Trade Commissioner'') is the member of the European Commission responsible for the Common Commercial Policy (EU), European Union's common commercial policy. Responsibilities ...

from 2004 to 2008 and Member of Parliament (MP) for

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

from 1992 to 2004, before being elevated to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in 2008. In November 2010, he co-founded Global Counsel, a lobbying firm based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Mandelson has been described as having a "significant influence" on the office of current Labour Party Leader and Prime Minister

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

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 Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, on 21 October 1953, the younger son of the Hon. Mary Joyce Mandelson () and George Norman Mandelson (1920–1988). Of Polish

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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 An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

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 The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

and a

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

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 County Grammar School. In 1966, he appeared on stage with the local amateur theatre group, the Hampstead Garden Suburb Dramatic Society, as the eponymous lead in ''

The Winslow Boy ''The Winslow Boy'' is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an incident involving George Archer-Shee in the Edwardian era. The incident took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Background Set against the strict cod ...

''. During his teenage years he joined the Young Communist League due to the UK's support of the United States' role in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. He was educated at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

as an undergraduate of

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

, where he read

philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

(PPE); his tutors included Nicholas (''now'' Lord) Stern.

Early career

As Chairman of the British Youth Council, in 1978 Mandelson was delegated to attend the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

- organised

World Festival of Youth and Students The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students after 1947. History The festival has been held occasionally since 1947, mainl ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Lambeth Borough Council in 1979 but stood down in 1982, disillusioned with the state of Labour

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. Mandelson then worked from 1982 to 1985 as a television producer at

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

on '' Weekend World'', where he formed a friendship with his superior John (''now'' Lord) Birt.

Political career

Labour's director of communications

In 1985, the Labour Party leader

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a Welsh politician who was Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 Labour Party le ...

appointed him as the party's director of communications. As director, he was one of the first people in Britain to whom the term "

" was applied; he was thus called "the Prince of Darkness". Mandelson ran the campaign at the

1986 Fulham by-election The Fulham (UK Parliament constituency), Fulham by-election, in Fulham, on 10 April 1986 was held following the death of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) Martin Stevens (p ...

where Labour defeated the Conservative Party. For the 1987 general election campaign, Mandelson commissioned film director

Hugh Hudson Hugh Hudson (25 August 1936 – 10 February 2023) was an English film director. He was among a generation of British directors who would begin their career making documentaries and television commercials before going on to have success in film ...

, whose ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...

'' (1981) had won an Oscar as Best Picture, to make a party political broadcast promoting

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 Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

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

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group (sociology), group or election to an offic ...

for the

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

, which was then considered a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

As an MP

Mandelson was first elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the 1992 general election, and made several speeches outlining his strong support for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Although sidelined during the brief period when John Smith led the Labour Party, Mandelson was by now close to two shadow cabinet members –

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

and

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

– each regarded as potential future

party leaders In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...

. 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 A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

'' 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 general election, which Labour won decisively.

Minister without Portfolio

Mandelson was appointed as a

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

in the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

, where his job was to co-ordinate within government. A few months later, he also acquired responsibility for the

Millennium Dome The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millen ...

, 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 The secretary of state for culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and po ...

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; he launched the Millennium Bug And Electronic Commerce Bill and a Competitiveness

White paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...

, which he described, as 'bold, far reaching and absolutely necessary'. He also appointed a " Net Tsar" to lead the UK in what he termed the "new industrial revolution". Mandelson bought a home in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

in 1996 partly with an interest-free loan of £373,000 from 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

, replacing

Mo Mowlam Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam (18 September 1949 – 19 August 2005) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar (UK Parliament constituency), Redcar f ...

. 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 devolved legislative assembly and power-sharing executive and reform of the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it ...

. On 24 January 2001, Mandelson resigned from the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

for a second time, following accusations of using his position to influence a passport application. He had contacted

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

Minister Mike O'Brien on behalf of 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

. 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 Sir Anthony Hammond, which concluded that neither Mandelson nor anyone else had acted improperly. At the 2001 general election Mandelson was challenged by

Arthur Scargill Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. He is best known for leading the 1984–1985 UK miners' strike, a major event in the history o ...

of the 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

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

was established in 2004. Both of Britain's Commissioners,

and

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes (; born 12 May 1944), is a British politician who was the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992, and the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997. He was made a lif ...

, were due to stand down. Appointment as a European Commissioner would require his resignation from Parliament, precipitating a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

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 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 ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' 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 The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) is a pressure group in the United Kingdom which was formed in 2004 to campaign for a low-tax society. The group had about 18,000 registered supporters as of 2008 and claimed to have 55,000 by September 2010. Howeve ...

, 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. "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 Full Fact is a British charity, based in London, which checks and corrects facts reported in the news as well as claims which circulate on social media. History and structure Full Fact was founded in 2009 by businessman Michael Samuel, the ...

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 Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

. 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 Lord Hill had supported "getting on" with Brexit.

Peerage and return to Cabinet

On 3 October 2008, as part of

's Cabinet reshuffle it was announced, amid some controversy, that Mandelson would return to

in the re-designated post of

Business Secretary The secretary of state for business and trade (business secretary), is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business and Trade. The incumb ...

and would be raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

, thus becoming a

member of the House of Lords This is a list of current members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Current sitting members Lords Spiritual Twenty-six bishops of the Church of England sit in the House of Lords: the Archbishops ...

. On 13 October 2008 he was created Baron Mandelson, of Foy in the County of

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

and of

in the County of Durham, being introduced in the

the same day. Following his return to office, Mandelson supported 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

with the honorary title of

; it was also announced that the

Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was a UK government department created on 28 June 2007 to take over some of the functions of the Department of Education and Skills and of the Department of Trade and Industry. Its h ...

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

. 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 ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' 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 co-founder

David Geffen David Lawrence Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American film producer, record executive, and media proprietor. In music, he co-founded Asylum Records with Elliot Roberts in 1971 before founding Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1 ...

at the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...

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 ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' 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 (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 Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

, on 2 June 2009 and that on the following day Mandelson advised Lord Carter about the "possibility of he Secretary of Statehaving 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 A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

found in March 2009 that Mandelson was less disliked by Labour Party members than Deputy Leader

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman, Baroness Harman, (born 30 July 1950), is a British politician and solicitor who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the Labour Party (UK), Chair of the Labour Pa ...

. 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

party conference The terms party conference ( UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party memb ...

in Brighton.

Post-Cabinet

After the Labour Party lost the 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 and

David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member o ...

as too by

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017 Greater Manchester mayoral election, 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Brown ministry, Cabinet as Chief Secretary to th ...

. During this time, he was appointed

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the international think tank

Policy Network Policy Network was an international centre-left think tank based in London. The President of Policy Network was former UK First Secretary of State and EU Trade Commissioner Lord Mandelson; Lord Liddle (former Special Adviser to President of the ...

. 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 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 Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

, Palantir, Alibaba,

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, 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 The Bilderberg Meeting (also known as the "Bilderberg Group", "Bilderberg Conference" or "Bilderberg Club") is an annual off-the-record forum established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally ...

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 Lazard Inc. (formerly known as Lazard Ltd and Lazard Frères & Co.) is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients. It i ...

. In 2013, Lord Mandelson also joined the Board of Trustees of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

's Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft. In May 2011 it was revealed that there was speculation that Mandelson had been approached by

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

to be a candidate for the leadership of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

, even though Mandelson had not served as a

finance minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

or headed a

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

. It was then speculated that Lord Mandelson's name might be put forward to succeed

Pascal Lamy Pascal Lamy (born 8 April 1947) is a French political consultant and businessman. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2013 for 8 years. In April 2009, WTO members reappointed Lamy ...

Director-General of the World Trade Organization The director-general of the World Trade Organization is the officer of the World Trade Organization (WTO) responsible for supervising and directing the organization's administrative operations. Since the World Trade Organization's decisions are ...

, backed by

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

. 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 Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and damaging the habitats of rare animals such as the

Sumatran tiger The Sumatran tiger is a population of ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali tiger, Bali and Javan tigers are extinct. DNA sequencing, Sequ ...

. At least 67 companies worldwide, such as

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

and

Kraft Foods Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

since 2004 and

Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in 1919 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris, where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock mark ...

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 since 1974. Peter_Mandelson

After the 2015 Labour leadership election resulted in

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

becoming the

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...

, 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 orbyn'stenure 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 BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

. "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 Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...

Britain Stronger in Europe Britain Stronger in Europe (formally The In Campaign Limited) was an advocacy group which campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, ...

, 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 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 Sir Liam Fox (born 22 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

: 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 Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

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 ''

,'' presented by

Matt Chorley Matt Chorley (born 1982) is a British journalist, broadcaster and comedian who hosted a live morning politics show on Times Radio from 2020 to 2024. He has since been hosting an afternoon politics show on BBC Radio 5 Live. Additionally, he prese ...

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 HM Ambassador to the United States. Previously opposed to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and describing him as "little short of a

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

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, ''

'' 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, ''

'' revealed that Mandelson had spent the previous New Year's Eve on the yacht of

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American businessman, computer programmer, and investor. He co-founded Microsoft, Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which was followed by the ...

, the co-founder of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

, 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 The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the highest circulation of paid newspapers in the UK. Its sister paper ''The Mail on Sunday'' was launch ...

'' reported that Mandelson had received a free cruise on a yacht from

Diego Della Valle Diego Della Valle (born 30 December 1953) is a controversial Italian businessman who is the chairman of Tod's. He is the former owner of ACF Fiorentina which he sold after a criminal conviction for match fixing as part of the '' Calciopoli'' sc ...

, a controversial Italian mogul, raising questions as Della Valle's businesses (such as luxury shoe brand

Tod's Tod's S.p.A. is an Italian fashion house specialized in footwear, apparel, and related accessories headquartered in Marche. It is majority controlled by businessman Diego Della Valle. Founded in 1920 by Filippo Della Valle, a cobbler, it was co ...

) 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 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 The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' alleging libel, however Rothschild lost the case. During the summer of 2008, Mandelson had a widely publicised disagreement with

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

. 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 Irish referendum on the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is a European agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by all EU member states o ...

. Mandelson said his position at world trade talks had been undermined and told the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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 Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations ...

. In 2008, Mandelson was hospitalised, suffering from a kidney stone. At this time,

melamine Melamine is an organic compound with the formula C3H6N6. This white solid is a trimer (chemistry), trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-Triazine, 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass, and its derivatives ha ...

added to 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 Russian oligarchs () are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The failing Soviet state left the ownership ...

Oleg Deripaska Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska (; born 2 January 1968) is a Russian oligarch and billionaire. Deripaska began his career as a metals trader after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He used accumulated funds from trading to acquire stakes in the Sa ...

, most recently on holiday in August 2008 on Deripaska's yacht at Taverna Agni on the Greek island of

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

. 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 A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

and insisted that he had never discussed aluminium tariffs with Deripaska. On 26 October 2008 the

Shadow Foreign Secretary The shadow secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, commonly called the shadow foreign secretary, is a position within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), UK official opposition shadow cabinet th ...

William Hague William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...

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 Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to visit Deripaska in 2005. In June 2013, writing for the 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 AFK Sistema PAO is a large Russian conglomerate company, founded by Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who was chairman of the corporation's board of directors until 2022. In April, Yevtushenkov's shareholding in Sistema has decreased to 49.2%, and he also ...

. Peter Mandelson has been criticised for being a member of the

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 genocide in Xinjiang. In 2019, UK's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

aired an episode of '' Dispatches'' in which a source close to sex offender

Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( , ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American financier and child sex offender. Born and raised in New York City, Epstein began his professional career as a teacher at the Dalton School, despite lacking a col ...

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 James Dimon ( ; born March 13, 1956) is an American businessman who has been the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of JPMorgan Chase since 2006. Dimon began his career as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group. After earnin ...

, CEO of

JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's largest bank by mar ...

. 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 Prince Andrew, Duke of York (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger bro ...

, and eterLord Mandelson, a senior member of the British Government." In February 2025, when asked about his relationship with Epstein by the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', 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 The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...

. He was replaced in this un-remunerated post by playwright

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

, who died two months later. Guest of honour in 2011 at Herbert Morrison Primary School in

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, which was hosting a special themed day in honour of Mandelson's grandfather, after whom the school was named, Lord Mandelson served as

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

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 Reinaldo Avila da Silva , a Brazilian

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

since March 1998, Lord Mandelson wed his partner on 28 October 2023. The couple have a collie dog named Jock, who has proved popular at parties in the 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 The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...

'' 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 Matthew Francis Parris (born 7 August 1949) is a British political writer, broadcaster, and former politician. He served as Member of Parliament for West Derbyshire from 1979 to 1986. Ideologically a liberal conservative, he is a member of t ...

in 1998 on the BBC programme ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

''. This led to press harassment of his partner, with the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' 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 The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Ind ...

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 BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

's '' Storyville'' in 2010, ''Mandelson: The Real PM?'', directed by 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

drama '' The Deal''. * Mandelson was portrayed by

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...

in the 2015

drama ''

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

''. * Mandelson was portrayed by

Nigel Planer Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, writer and musician. His television credits include playing Neil in the sitcom '' The Young Ones'' and Ralph Filthy in the sitcom '' Filthy Rich & Catflap'', as well as narrating th ...

in the 2011 comedy drama '' The Hunt for Tony Blair''. * The '' Little Britain'' character Sebastian Love was based on Mandelson.

Honours

UK Baron (2008) * Grande ufficiale OSSI medal BAR

Grand Officer,

Order of the Star of Italy The Order of the Star of Italy ( ) is an Italian order of chivalry that was founded in 2011. The order was reformed from the 1947 Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity by the 11th President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. The emphasis of the ...

(2016) *

Officer,

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(2017)

Bibliography

* (with Roger Liddle) ''The Blair Revolution: Can New Labour Deliver?'' Faber, 1996 ** ''The Blair Revolution Revisited'', (2nd ed), Politicos, 2002, * ( 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

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
''

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

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

, 1 October 2008. * *
Social Democracy Observatory
* * * , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mandelson, Peter 1953 births Living people 20th-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English LGBTQ people Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford British European commissioners Councillors in the London Borough of Lambeth English gay politicians English male non-fiction writers English people of Polish-Jewish descent English political writers First secretaries of state of the United Kingdom Jewish English politicians Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) officials LGBTQ government ministers LGBTQ life peers LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom LGBTQ people from London Life peers created by Elizabeth II Lord Presidents of the Council Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom New Labour Officers of the Legion of Honour People associated with the 1997 United Kingdom general election People educated at Hendon School People from Hendon Politicians from the London Borough of Barnet Politics of the Borough of Hartlepool Presidents of the Board of Trade Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland UK councillors 1978–1982 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Writers from the London Borough of Barnet Young Communist League of Britain members Diplomatic peers