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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Jeffrey Epstein could prove to be British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s undoing.
Starmer never met Epstein and is not accused of any wrongdoing. But Starmer is under intense pressure over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the U.K.’s ambassador to the U.S. despite Mandelson’s ties to the late convicted sex offender.
Starmer fired Mandelson in September after emails were published showing he had maintained a friendship with Epstein following the late financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor. Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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But recently released documents have revealed new details about Mandelson’s close relationship with Epstein, and cost Mandelson his political career. Meanwhile, British police have opened a criminal investigation into Mandelson over alleged misconduct in public office tied to his relationship with Epstein. He is not accused of any sexual offenses.
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The latest trove of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday was the biggest to date under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law compelling the release of the government's files into the investigation of Epstein. President Donald Trump has struggled to move on from the saga for months and the new documents contain thousands of references to him, though he denies any knowledge of Epstein's crimes and says he cut ties with Epstein years ago after an earlier friendship.
Yet it is Starmer’s leadership that is hanging by a thread as he faces the biggest political crisis since becoming prime minister.
He is facing calls to resign after admitting on Wednesday that he had known about Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein but still appointed him ambassador. He said Mandelson had "completely misrepresented” his relationship with Epstein during the vetting process.
Starmer issued an apology to Epstein’s victims on Thursday.
“I was lied to,” he said. “It had been publicly known for some time that Mandelson knew Epstein, but none of us knew the depth and the darkness of that relationship.”
Still, the damage to Starmer’s authority may be irreparable.
An Already-Weak Position
The timing is far from ideal, coming ahead of important local elections in May—Britain’s equivalent to the midterms—that could prove crucial to Starmer’s future as prime minister.
His governing Labour Party has seen its poll ratings tank since winning the general election in July 2024 by a landslide, partly because of a series of policy missteps that have been directly linked to Starmer’s decision-making.
The prime minister is also facing challenges inside and outside the Labor Party.
The recent blocking of Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester, from running in a special election also underscores Starmer’s weak position. Burnham’s request prompted speculation that he wants to be in Parliament for a possible challenge to Starmer’s leadership if the local elections in May go as badly as many in Labour fear.
On the right, Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform Party is on the rise. Although it has few seats in Parliament, the party leads Labor and the Conservatives in opinion polls ahead of May’s elections and is treating the elections as chance to build momentum for a possible early general election.
The furor over Starmer’s decision to appoint Mandelson could be the “last straw for Labour MPs, most of whom now either don’t support Starmer or see him as an electoral liability,” Christopher Byrne, an assistant professor in British politics at the University of Nottingham, told Newsweek.
The prime minister “has been on thin ice ever since a series of parliamentary rebellions over key planks of the government’s policy platform last year, which badly undermined his authority within the party,” Byrne said. “Voters have also decisively turned against Starmer, as reflected in his dire opinion poll ratings.”
A more popular prime minister might be able to able to ride out the scandal, but Starmer has seen his approval ratings collapse since coming into office.
“Starmer's already one of the most unpopular prime ministers this country's ever seen, and there were plenty of people in the Labour Party who wanted to replace him even before this whole thing blew up,” Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, told Newsweek.
“So even if he doesn't go soon, it's getting increasingly difficult to see him surviving what will be brutal local and regional elections this spring.”
A Fatal Blow?
Starmer’s admission in Parliament “probably has delivered a fatal blow to his authority,” Peter Kerr, an associate professor in politics at the University of Birmingham, told Newsweek.
“He’s been lurching from one crisis, or bad news story, to another, almost since the week he entered Downing Street. As a result, his political capital and approval ratings were already looking damaged beyond repair, even before this latest scandal.”
But one way out could be if Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, falls on his sword for the prime minister. McSweeney pushed for Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador, according to multiple reports.
“Sacrificing McSweeney might placate angry Labour MPs sufficiently to buy Starmer some time until the next crises: a difficult by-election at the end of the month and then a very big set of elections in May,” Jonathan Tongue, a professor of politics at the University of Liverpool, told Newsweek.
“Given McSweeney’s key role in getting Starmer to his current job, it would be tough to get rid. But politics is littered with self-preservation sacrifices.”
Byrne noted that many expect Starmer will have to step down if local elections in May go as badly as expected for Labour. But he could be forced to quit sooner if further damaging revelations come out or if a Cabinet minister resigns in protest.
"Either way, whether he survives this latest scandal or holds on until the summer, his days as PM are numbered," Byrne said.
It may be best for Starmer and the country to resign now, Bale said.
“Trust in our politicians is at a low ebb,” he said. “Starmer might believe he's doing the right thing by sticking around, but, ironically, the best thing he could do for voters' dwindling faith in Britain's political class might be to hold his hands up, take responsibility and resign.”
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