# Lord Mandelson resigns from Labour after latest Epstein file release
Lord Mandelson has resigned from the Labour Party after the latest release of US Department of Justice files renewed scrutiny of his links to Jeffrey Epstein. In a letter to Labour’s general secretary, the former cabinet minister said he did not want to “cause further embarrassment” to the party.
The BBC report says the new documents suggest Epstein made $75,000, or £55,000, in payments to Mandelson in three separate $25,000 transactions in 2003 and 2004. Mandelson said the allegations were false and that he had no record or recollection of the payments, but added that the matter needed investigating by him. While that was under way, he said, he did not wish to burden Labour further.
Mandelson’s departure follows a long and damaging sequence of revelations about his past association with Epstein. He was previously sacked as US ambassador last year because of those ties. In his resignation letter, he also repeated his apology to the women and girls who were harmed by Epstein.
The latest file release included bank statements that appear to reference Mandelson in three transactions routed through Epstein’s JP Morgan accounts. According to the BBC, one payment on 14 May 2003 went to a Barclays account where his then-partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva was named as account holder. Two further $25,000 payments were made to HSBC accounts in June 2004. The report says it is unclear whether the money ever reached any of the named accounts.
Mandelson also said earlier on Sunday that he did not know whether the newly released documents were authentic. Separately, the BBC report says emails in the files show he remained in contact with Epstein after Epstein’s 2008 conviction and even sought to influence policy on a planned tax on bankers’ bonuses while he was business secretary.
Political reaction was swift. Labour figures said they approved of his decision to leave the party, while Conservative politicians argued the government should have acted sooner. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for a full Cabinet Office investigation into whether Mandelson or his husband took money from Epstein while he was a minister.
The episode also raises procedural questions about Mandelson’s status in the House of Lords. He has been on leave of absence and would need to give notice to return, while a separate legislative route would be needed to remove his peerage. The report says some politicians want that to happen.
For Labour, the immediate problem is no longer just a damaging historical link but a live political embarrassment driven by new documentary evidence. Mandelson’s resignation from the party is his latest attempt to contain that fallout.
