Lord Mandelson was later sent to Washington by Sir Keir Starmer in December 2024 as the UK’s ambassador to the US, but was sacked the following September after further revelations emerged about his friendship with Epstein.
Emails revealed he had been in contact with Epstein after the US financier’s 2008 conviction, sending a string of supportive messages.
Asked by Laura Kuenssberg if the government was aware of Mandelson’s alleged financial links to Epstein, Housing Secretary Steve Reed confirmed they were not.
“You’re talking about things that happened more than 20 years ago,” he said, stressing “there was no knowledge” about what was going on at that time.
Reed added that the reason Mandelson was removed as US ambassador was because “there were things he had not disclosed” to government.
“I think he should answer questions about his own life, not me.”
On 11 January, he told Laura Kuenssberg that his relationship with Epstein was a “terrible mistake”.
During the interview, Lord Mandelson also said he believed he was “kept separate” from Epstein’s sex life because he is gay and denied seeing young girls at Epstein’s properties.
Days later, he offered a more direct apology to the victims of the disgraced financier, telling Newsnight he was “wrong” to continue associating with Epstein.
Epstein’s 2008 conviction was part of a plea bargain he reached in Florida. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to two charges, including soliciting girls as young as 14 for prostitution.
In 2019, Epstein died in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.