In a statement the U.K. Foreign Office said Mandelson had been withdrawn as ambassador “with immediate effect” after emails showed “the depth and extent” of his relationship with Epstein was “materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.”
“In particular Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information,” the statement added.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who initially insisted Mandelson retained the government’s full confidence, has been under increasing pressure to act over the fresh revelations.
When Epstein was facing charges in June 2008 over soliciting a minor, Mandelson wrote: “Your friends stay with you and love you” and urged him to “fight for early release.”
“I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened. I can still barely understand it,” Mandelson said in emails published by the Sun newspaper.
Mandelson, who spent four years in Brussels as Britain’s European Commissioner, has faced several scandals during his political career. He resigned from former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair’s cabinet twice — once in 1998, and again in 2001.