Peter Mandelson arrest – newest: Ex-Labour peer held over probe into Jeffrey Epstein ties | EUROtoday

Lord Peter Mandelson is a former Labour peer and cupboard minister who has been extensively thought to be a key architect of New Labour.

He beforehand served as MP for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, the place he was appointed enterprise secretary and Northern Ireland secretary, however resigned twice over separate controversies.

Lord Mandelson was briefly US ambassador till he was sacked by Sir Keir Starmer in September 2025 following scrutiny over his ties to Epstein. Lord Mandelson has since resigned from Labour Party and House of Lords.

Lord Mandelson denies recalling the alleged funds and has apologised to Epstein’s victims, stating he was mistaken to take care of an affiliation with the financier after his conviction.

The first tranche of paperwork associated to Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador is predicted to be launched “very shortly in early March”, MPs have been instructed.

However, the publication of some correspondence between Downing Street and the peer will likely be delayed “because of the Metropolitan Police interest”, chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones stated.

Mr Jones’ assertion got here minutes earlier than the Metropolitan Police introduced that Lord Mandelson had been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public workplace.

By Kate Devlin, Whitehall Editor

The Conservative chief Kemi Badenoch has accused MPs of attempting to make use of parliamentary investigations into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to distract from former Labour peer Peter Mandelson.

Both males have now been arrested within the wake of the discharge of the Epstein information.

MPs on the Business and Trade Committee will meet on Tuesday to think about a probe into Mountbatten-Windsor’s time as a commerce envoy.

Asked in an interview with the Independent if MPs ought to examine, Ms Badenoch stated that it was “right that everything is looked at” however added “I think the police are the right people to carry out that investigation”.

She added: “A lot of MPs are jumping on this because it distracts from the Peter Mandelson story, which is far more significant from a parliamentary perspective.

“I think that what the King said has been right. The law must run its course.

“And if you can compare the King’s behavior, with something affecting his family, his own brother, complete transparency. On the government side, it’s been hiding papers (and) saying what a great guy Peter Madelson was, as the prime minister did six months ago when I first confronted him with these allegations.”

The government is acting “with the urgency of a tired sloth on a bank holiday Monday” in releasing documents related to Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the US ambassador, a shadow cabinet office minister has said.

The comments came just minutes before Lord Mandelson’s arrest.

Addressing the Commons on Monday, Mike Wood stated: “The police cannot dictate to this House, yet the government remains coy about the legal basis for withholding documents.

“We need an unequivocal commitment today, once the police are finished, every withheld page must be published, no excuses, no redactions by stealth.”

He added: “Careful work must not become a euphemism for managed delay.

“It is time the government stopped treating parliament like an inconvenient interruption to their schedule, stopped giving every impression that they have priorities working out who’s back to cover, and started providing some actual answers so that we can start to get to the bottom of this murky matter.”

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, said the government was trying to manage a criminal investigation by the Metropolitan Police, and “I’m sure the House would not want us to inadvertently interfere with that process”.

Police searched two homes linked to Lord Peter Mandelson on 5 February following allegations he leaked sensitive government documents to Jeffrey Epstein.

At the time, the Metropolitan Police said officers from its central specialist crime team carried out two warrants in Camden, north London, and Wiltshire in connection with an ongoing investigation into misconduct in public office offences.

The force said the alleged offences involved a 72-year-old man and confirmed that he had not been arrested.

Lord Peter Mandelson’s arrest comes as the prime minister visits Gorton and Denton ahead of a key by-election later this week.

Sir Keir Starmer was in the constituency, which voted Labour in 2024, to campaign as his party battles to keep the seat.

Sir Keir warned would-be Green supporters they could split the anti-Reform vote and allow the party’s candidate, GB News presenter Matt Goodwin, to enter parliament.

The prime minister stated: “In this by-election a vote for the Green Party is, in effect, a vote for Reform.

“And we saw in the by-election in Runcorn last year, where Labour lost by just a handful of votes, we got a Reform member of parliament. We mustn’t let that happen again.”

Sir Keir warned would-be Green supporters they could split the anti-Reform vote and allow the party’s candidate, GB News presenter Matt Goodwin, to enter Parliament.

The Prime Minister stated: “In this by-election a vote for the Green Party is, in effect, a vote for Reform.

“And we saw in the by-election in Runcorn last year, where Labour lost by just a handful of votes, we got a Reform member of parliament. We mustn’t let that happen again.”

Police have confirmed this afternoon that former US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson has been arrested at his Camden home.

The ex-Labour peer is being questioned on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, the police statement said.

But what does this offence mean? The Independent takes a look below:

Lord Peter Mandelson has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, the Metropolitan Police have confirmed.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson stated: “Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

“He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, February 23 and has been taken to a London police station for interview.

“This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”

Footage shown by broadcasters shows a plain clothed police officer leading Lord Mandelson out of a house.

Lord Mandelson then gets into the left rear seat of a waiting unmarked Ford Focus police car.

The male police officer then gets into the right rear passenger seat.

A female police officer gets into the front seat of the car before it is driven away.