Former British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson in London, February 26, 2026. TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS
UK opposition leaders on Thursday, April 16, called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign after the government confirmed that an associate of Jeffrey Epstein failed a background security check before becoming envoy to Washington. Starmer has faced repeated questions about his judgment in appointing Peter Mandelson, who was sacked last year only months into the post over his ties to the late convicted US sex offender Epstein.
The opposition renewed calls for Starmer's resignation after an investigation by The Guardian newspaper discovered Mandelson had failed an initial background check – later confirmed by the government. Opposition right-wing Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch wrote on X that "Starmer has betrayed our national security. He should go." Leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, wrote on X: "If Keir Starmer has misled Parliament and lied to the British people, he has to go."
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Epstein affair: The downfall of Peter Mandelson, the evil genius of the British Labour Party
