Mandelson, money - and the risk to the prime minister
Political Fix
Financial Times
4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 February 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Fresh revelations about Peter Mandelson’s relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have sparked a political explosion in Westminster, reopening questions about Keir Starmer’s decision to return him to the heart of public life. Mandelson, the former UK ambassador to Washington, has resigned from the House of Lords and from the Labour Party, while a criminal investigation has been launched into allegations that he shared sensitive information with Epstein during his time as business secretary under Gordon Brown.
Starmer has apologised for appointing Mandelson and pledged to publish the files relating to his vetting for the ambassadorship, but with pressure growing on his leadership, how can the prime minister and the Labour Party hope to move on?
Host Lucy Fisher is joined by Jim Pickard, Stephen Bush and Ashley Armstrong to discuss the fallout.
Follow the panel on Bluesky - Lucy @lucyfisher.ft.com; Jim @pickardje.bsky.social; and Stephen @stephenkb.bsky.social
Want more? Free links:
Keir Starmer apologises to victims of Jeffrey Epstein
Pressure grows on Keir Starmer’s chief of staff over Peter Mandelson ambassador appointment
Every doomed prime minister has a moment – this is Starmer’s
Mandelson and the money that never sleeps
Peter Mandelson leaked sensitive UK government tax plans to Jeffrey Epstein
George Parker’s interview from 2025 – Peter Mandelson’s back: The Prince of Darkness returns
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Presented by Lucy Fisher, and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
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Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Can the Prime Minister tell us, did the official security vetting he received mention |
| 0:08.1 | Mandelson's ongoing relationship with the paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein? |
| 0:12.5 | Prime Minister? |
| 0:14.8 | Yes, it did. |
| 0:17.7 | As a result, various questions were put to him. |
| 0:23.1 | I intend to disclose to this House the full documentation, so it will see for itself |
| 0:28.9 | the extent to which, the extent to which time and time again, |
| 0:34.0 | Mandelson completely misrepresented the extent of his relationship with Excheon. |
| 0:39.3 | The Prime Minister there, under intense pressure in the Commons, |
| 0:43.3 | confronting not just another political crisis, but one with potentially profound consequences for his premiership. |
| 0:50.3 | An at its centre is Peter Mandelson, one of the most influential political operators of the past 40 years, a central architect of new labour and a figure whose political shadow has loomed large over Kier Stama's own time in office. |
| 1:03.7 | Five months after the Prime Minister was forced to sack the man he'd appointed as UK ambassador to Washington. |
| 1:09.6 | Fresh revelations about Mandelson's relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein |
| 1:14.1 | have reopened questions about Stama's decision to bring him back to the heart of public life. |
| 1:20.7 | So the question now is, could Mandelson, a master strategist from a previous Labour era, end up bringing Starma down. Welcome to Political Fix |
| 1:29.5 | from the Financial Times with me, Lucy Fisher. I'm joined in the studio by my FT colleagues, columnist |
| 1:35.6 | Stephen Bush. Hi, Stephen. Hi, Lucy. The FT's chief UK business correspondent, Ashley Armstrong. |
| 1:41.3 | Hello. And Deputy Political Editor and our man of the hour, Jim Pickard. Hi, Jim. Hey, Lucy. And Jim, I know that you're going to be too modest to do this yourself. So I've just got to say you have been rightly heralded across Westminster, including in the House of Commons this week, for your stellar and tenacious work on the story over many years. So I'm so glad you're |
| 2:02.2 | here on the podcast to take us through it. There are memes calling you the King of Westminster, |
| 2:06.0 | just to inflate your ego further. We'll have to... |
| 2:08.3 | Friday comes before a fall. |
| 2:13.0 | So we're celebrating a little anniversary here. It's one year since Peter Mandelson told the FT, by which I mean George Parker, our colleague, |
... |
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