Starmer faces calls to resign as UK government admits ambassador to US failed vetting process

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced calls Thursday to resign after it emerged that Peter Mandelson was initially denied security clearance for the post of ambassador to the United States, which he was eventually fired from over his close links to the disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Following the revelation in the Guardian newspaper, the government said Starmer was not aware that the Foreign Office had overruled a security vetting process for Mandelson to become U.K. ambassador to Washington “until earlier this week.”

Starmer has previously insisted due process was followed in the appointment, and that Mandelson, who was fired in September 2025, had lied about the extent of his links to Epstein.

Once Starmer was informed, a spokesperson for the government said the prime minister “immediately instructed officials to establish the facts about why the developed vetting was granted, in order to enact plans to update the House of Commons.”

Opposition lawmakers said Starmer should resign if he had misled Parliament.

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, said Starmer is “definitely in resigning territory,” while Ed Davey, the leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, said Starmer “must go” if he misled Parliament and lied to the British public.

Starmer's premiership faced its biggest crisis in February after the release of millions of pages of Epstein-related documents by the U.S. Justice Department showed the closeness of Mandelson's relationship with Epstein.

In particular, Starmer's political judgment was questioned after emails in the so-called Epstein Files suggested Mandelson had passed on sensitive — and potentially market-moving — government information to the disgraced financier in 2009, when he was a member of the Labour government.

Starmer has repeatedly apologized to the British public and to the victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking for believing what he has termed “Mandelson’s lies.” Throughout his apologies, he has said both in and out of Parliament that the necessary vetting rules related to appointing someone to the plum job of U.S. ambassador were followed.

British police subsequently launched a criminal probe, searched Mandelson’s two houses in London and western England. Mandelson was arrested on Feb. 23 on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was released on bail the following morning after more than nine hours of questioning.

Mandelson, who has denied doing anything improper, has not been charged.

Days before Mandelson's arrest, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, was also arrested on the same charge. Like Mandelson, King Charles III's younger brother was a close associate of Epstein.

In late 2024, Starmer appointed Mandelson to the ambassador's post, despite knowing of his previous relationship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019. Mandelson's trade expertise was considered a major asset in trying to persuade the Trump administration not to slap heavy tariffs on British goods, and seemed to pay off when the countries struck a trade deal a few months later.

Starmer fired Mandelson in September over an earlier revelation of his links to Epstein.

British documents released since the Epstein Files, including some of those related to the vetting process, confirmed that Starmer chose Mandelson despite warnings that it could expose the government to “reputational risk.” The government says it will release a further trove of documents related to Mandelson’s appointment, after being forced to do so by Parliament.