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On February 23, 2026, British officials arrested Peter Mandelson, a veteran of the Labor Party and former ambassador of the United Kingdom to the United States, and suspected him of misconduct in office based on his connection with convicted sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein. The 72-year-old, a resident of the Metropolitan Police in north London, Camden, was arrested at his home and captured on a camera phone being taken to a waiting car by plainclothes policemen without handcuffs. He was also interrogated at a London station and then was bailed until further inquiry.

This is due to the bombshell released in the recently declassified US Justice Department documents (more than 3 million pages have been published, which involved Epstein) indicating that Mandelson, who was business secretary when the global financial crisis struck (2008-2010), had passed sensitive and market-sensitive state information down to the dead man when he was still in the Cabinet. Emails and files suggest that he was exchanging sensitive evaluations and policy discussions, which creates significant doubts about trust and position abuse.

This comes right after the former Prince Andrew was arrested on the same misconduct charges involving Epstein. One of the Blair strategists who became known as the Prince of Darkness, Mandelson briefly worked as ambassador under Prime Minister Keir Starmer but was dismissed in September 2025 following the release of earlier Epstein information, such as money payments and an intimate friendship of which he was boastful. Pressure continued to mount on him, and he resigned from the House of Lords and the Labour Party in early February 2026.

Mandelson has defended himself, saying that any dealings with him were strictly business or social and not yet business. The investigation has heightened the investigation into saloon cab associates of Epstein's high profile in Europe, and the critics have accused the government of lack of supervision. With police raids still underway at his estates, the case is an instance of continued backlash around files Epstein had, and it is prompting demands of answers from those among the elites involved in ties with the deceased financier. This scandal might have had long-term political consequences in the UK.