{"id":416662,"date":"2026-02-09T19:32:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/416662\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T19:32:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:32:46","slug":"calls-for-starmer-to-resign-amid-mandelson-epstein-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/416662\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls for Starmer to Resign Amid Mandelson, Epstein Row"},"content":{"rendered":"

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing growing calls to resign amid the fallout<\/a> from his former Labour colleague Peter Mandelson\u2019s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n

Anas Sarwar, leader of the Scottish Labour Party, urged<\/a> Starmer to step down during a press conference on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn’t easy, and it’s not without pain, as I have a genuine friendship with Keir Starmer, but my first priority and my first loyalty is to my country, Scotland,\u201d he said, citing fears that the scandal in Westminster risks overshadowing the Scottish Parliament election in May. \u201cThe distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarwar faced questions himself this past week when a resurfaced social media post<\/a> showed him referring to Mandelson as an \u201cold friend\u201d after they shared a meeting last April. The Scottish lawmaker defended the meeting once more on Monday, saying Mandelson shouldn\u2019t have been in office in the first place.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney resigned from his position over the weekend, claiming responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson as the U.K. ambassador to Washington\u2014a move that is under increasing scrutiny, as the lawmaker’s ties to Epstein were known to some extent.<\/p>\n

Tim Allan, Starmer\u2019s director of communications, followed suit on Monday, resigning from his position in what appeared to be an attempt to ease the pressure on Starmer.<\/p>\n

But for some, it\u2019s not enough.<\/p>\n

Read More: How the Epstein Files Broke Britain<\/a><\/p>\n

Mandelson was sacked<\/a> from the role of ambassador in September after a previous release of files showed that his relationship with Epstein stretched beyond what was previously known. <\/p>\n

That appointment is under renewed inspection<\/a> as emails from the latest release of files appear to show Mandelson leaked<\/a> sensitive government information to Epstein during his time as Business Secretary under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown. A police investigation<\/a> into Mandelson for alleged misconduct in public office offences is now underway.<\/p>\n

Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party and stepped down from the House of Lords last week. Amid calls for Starmer to follow suit, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister on Monday said he will not be resigning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Prime Minister is concentrating on the job in hand. He is getting on with the job of delivering change across the country,\u201d the spokesperson said, adding that Starmer is \u201cconfident\u201d he has the full support of his Cabinet. Many Cabinet members have since rallied around the Prime Minister, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy among those vocalizing their support.<\/p>\n

However, Starmer\u2019s premiership remains under scrutiny and some lawmakers are urging him to consider stepping down.<\/p>\n

Brian Leishman<\/p>\n

Brian Leishman, a Scottish member of the Labour Party, fully supported Sarwar\u2019s message on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have said that Keir Starmer\u2019s position is untenable and that it is in the country\u2019s best interest for him to step down and for the government to have a change in direction,\u201d Leishman said in a statement to TIME.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSarwar has shown that he and Scottish Labour will act in the best interests of our country,\u201d Leishman added, urging a return to \u201dreal Labour values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ian Byrne<\/p>\n

Ian Byrne is among the Labour lawmakers who welcomed McSweeney\u2019s resignation on Sunday, describing it as being in \u201cthe best interests of the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

He claimed<\/a> Starmer\u2019s chief of staff had \u201coverseen the erosion of internal democracy and the normalization of a deeply damaging factionalism that members and MPs are now living with.\u201d<\/p>\n

But McSweeney\u2019s resignation is not enough, according to Byrne.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA true change in political direction must now come from\u2014and be led from\u2014the very top,\u201d he said. \u201cThe PM must now reflect honestly on his own position and ask whether, for the good of the country and the Labour Party, he should follow McSweeney\u2019s lead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Neil Duncan-Jordan<\/p>\n

Neil Duncan-Jordan of the Labour Party said: \u201cWe can’t just keep going on like this, lurching from one crisis to the next, and one of the best ways of resetting is to have renewal, and that means changing who’s in charge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked during an interview with BBC Radio Solent<\/a> who should replace Starmer as Prime Minister, Duncan-Jordan pointed to the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham. <\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s National Executive Committee (NEC) recently blocked Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election, prompting much tension.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to recognize that, for the good of the party and for the good of the country, we’re going to need a change,\u201d said Duncan-Jordan, citing other grievances he had with decisions made by Starmer during his premiership so far, such as a suggestion for means-tested winter fuel allowance and proposed amendments to disability benefits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kemi Badenoch<\/p>\n

Leader of the opposition Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has strongly pushed for Starmer to resign since putting pressure on the Prime Minister in the House of Commons last week to answer questions over his appointment of Mandelson.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis [Starmer] position now is untenable, because if he thinks that bad advice is enough for Morgan McSweeney to go, then yes, I think that makes his position untenable,\u201d Badenoch said in an interview<\/a> with the BBC on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Badenoch went on to criticize Starmer\u2019s handling of the entire Mandelson situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs to start governing the country. Everybody makes mistakes. How you handle them shows what sort of character you are. And what he is showing is that he is weak,\u201d she claimed.<\/p>\n

Refusing to suggest an ideal replacement, should Starmer step down, Badenoch said: \u201cI don’t think there is a single better person on the Labour benches. Let’s just be clear\u2014the problem is the Labour Party.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing growing calls to resign amid the fallout from his former Labour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,595,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-416662","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-news-desk","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}