 "When UK’s Peter Mandelson had to resign over ‘lobbying' for Hinduja brothers")
Peter Mandelson, a former British ambassador to the United States, has been released on bail after being arrested on Monday (February 23) on suspicion of misconduct in public office stemming from his ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The documents released by the US Department of Justice last month have revealed his deep ties to the American paedophile, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Earlier this month, Mandelson, 72, resigned from the Labour Party following the latest document dump related to the disgraced financier, saying he does not want to “cause further embarrassment”. The so-called “Prince of Darkness” was fired as the UK’s ambassador to the US last September as the depth of his association with his “best pal” Espetin became clear.
Mandelson’s arrest has brought his other controversies in public life into focus.
Let’s take a closer look.
Mandelson released on bail
Peter Mandelson was arrested by the London police on Monday in a misconduct probe, following new revelations about his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement about the investigation into the former UK envoy.
Mandelson was filmed leaving his London home in a car, accompanied by plainclothes officers, on Monday afternoon.
In a separate statement later, the police said the man had been released on bail, pending further investigation, reported Reuters.
The former government minister’s arrest came days after ex-British Prince Andrew ended up briefly in police custody over his ties to Epstein.
Both Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor are suspected of sharing sensitive UK government information with the disgraced American financier.
Police searched Mandelson’s homes in London and west England earlier this month.
“He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview,” the police said in their statement.
“This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”
Mandelson’s Epstein links
The US Department of Justice released more than three million (30 lakh) documents, including photos and emails, connected to Epstein in late January.
The emails between Mandelson and Epstein shed new light on their relationship, revealing how close the duo were.
Messages indicate Mandelson passed on sensitive government information to Epstein in 2009, when he was a minister in former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government. This includes an internal government report discussing ways the UK could raise money after the 2008 global financial crisis, including by selling off government assets. Mandelson also purportedly told Epstein he would lobby other government members to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses, reported Associated Press (AP).
Mandelson has previously said he “very deeply” regretted his association with Epstein.
A “birthday book” for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, released by US lawmakers in September 2025, showed Mandelson describing the disgraced financier as an “intelligent, sharp-witted man” who “parachuted” into his life.
In the birthday book, Mandelson said: “Once upon a time, an intelligent, sharp-witted man they call ‘mysterious’ parachuted into my life… But wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal! Happy Birthday Jeffrey, we love you!!”
Mandelson, just like Andrew, remained in contact with Epstein even after the American financier’s first conviction in 2008 for soliciting prostitution and procuring a minor.
A photograph that featured in the ‘birthday book’ showed Mandelson lounging in a white bathrobe with Epstein.
An official spokesman for Mandelson said at the time the then British envoy “has long been clear that he very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein”.
Mandelson’s Hinduja brothers controversy
Mandelson has been fired thrice in his decades-long political career. His second resignation came after scrutiny over his links to the Hinduja brothers.
Mandelson was appointed secretary of state for Northern Ireland in the Tony Blair government in 1999. But he resigned in 2001 amid allegations that he had lobbied for the Hinduja family, the UK’s richest family.
He had reached out to the UK Home Office in 1998 on behalf of Indian-born businessman Srichand Hinduja, who was seeking British citizenship.
This was at a time when the Hinduja brothers were facing allegations over the Bofors arms scandal, a corruption case over howitzers. They were eventually cleared of all charges.
Mandelson is alleged to have helped Srichand Hinduja obtain British citizenship in return for a £1m donation to the Millennium Dome project in North Greenwich, south-east London.
Both Mandelson and the Hindujas denied any impropriety. But the episode cost the government minister his job as he resigned in 2001 for the second time.
Mandelson’s other scandals
The former British ambassador’s association with several super-wealthy men has come to bite him in his over three-decade-long political career.
Mandelson’s first resignation was in 1998 as he exited from the role of trade and industry secretary in the Blair government. His exit was related to an undeclared £373,000 loan he took from his rich colleague, Geoffrey Robinson, to buy a house in Notting Hill, London.
The episode came to light in December 1998, leading to a huge row over transparency and conflicts of interest. This led to Mandelson’s first departure from Blair’s Cabinet.
Robinson, a successful businessman, also had to step down from the post of paymaster general.
At the time, Mandelson said: “I should have been open about it – and in so doing I would have protected myself from the appearance of a conflict of interest. I didn’t and I have paid a very big price for it.”
Controversies continued to chase Mandelson even later. In 2006, he was photographed on Italian businessman Diego Della Valle’s yacht, moored off the coast of Capri. At the time, Mandelson was serving as EU trade commissioner, a role in which he imposed tariffs on Chinese shoes. Those moves seemed to benefit Della Valle’s own business, Tod’s.
Mandelson was spotted on another yacht in 2008 in Corfu, along with the then shadow chancellor exchequer, George Osborne. The yacht, Queen K, belonged to Russian aluminium oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
Mandelson was later accused of favouring Deripaska on EU aluminium tariffs during his stint as EU trade commissioner. He has denied doing the Russian any “favours”.
With inputs from agencies
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