Lord Mandelson is under scrutiny for his connections to Jeffrey Epstein. Photo / Getty Images
Lord Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s US ambassador was approved by a close friend who was later forced out of Labour over his own links to a paedophile.
Lord Doyle, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s former communications director, was asked to address concerns about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein during the vetting process.
The peer, who had been close to Lord Mandelson for more than two decades, was suspended from the Labour Party under investigation last month, after it emerged he had campaigned on behalf of a child sex offender.
Lord Doyle’s role in approving the appointment – revealed in the Mandelson Files – threatens to undermine the Prime Minister, who has repeatedly insisted Lord Mandelson lied to No 10 about his links to Epstein. The involvement of one of Starmer’s most senior aides in signing off the appointment has cast doubt on that defence.
The Conservatives questioned whether the Prime Minister had followed proper procedures, with Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, accusing him of “a dereliction of duty”.
She said: “Starmer likes to tell everyone how much of a hot-shot lawyer he was, yet he was handed a dossier clearly showing Mandelson’s close links to Epstein and didn’t even bother to interrogate the man he was about to appoint to high office.
“These latest releases show yet again the appalling judgment of this weak, distracted Prime Minister. The country deserves so much better.”
Before his appointment as US ambassador in December 2024, Lord Mandelson was asked about his association with Epstein as part of a No 10 due diligence process.
Starmer did not speak directly to him during the vetting. Instead, he allowed Lord Doyle and Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister’s then chief of staff, to handle the process in Downing Street. McSweeney resigned last month over his role in the appointment.
Downing Street said on Saturday there was “no requirement” for the Prime Minister to conduct a formal interview with Lord Mandelson before awarding him Britain’s most prestigious diplomatic post.
Instead, McSweeney asked Lord Mandelson to explain why he had maintained contact with Epstein after the American financier’s conviction for sex offences in 2008; why he had stayed at one of Epstein’s homes, and why he had associated with a charity founded by Ghislaine Maxwell, the jailed British socialite.
Starmer has said Lord Mandelson lied in his answers, and that further information about their friendship emerged months later. Lord Mandelson denies this and insists his responses during the vetting process were honest and not misleading.
The exchange between Lord Mandelson and McSweeney has not been released because of a request by the Metropolitan Police, which fears it could be prejudicial if any charges are brought.
The first tranche of the so-called Mandelson Files, released by the Government on Wednesday, showed that Lord Doyle was “satisfied” with Lord Mandelson’s answers and approved them. Starmer was then advised the appointment could proceed.
The documents also revealed Lord Doyle had socialised with Lord Mandelson in December 2024, the same month his appointment as ambassador was approved. The two men have been friends for decades after serving together when Sir Tony Blair was Prime Minister.
In recent years, Lord Doyle attended dinners at Global Counsel, Lord Mandelson’s now-defunct lobbying firm. In March 2025, Lord Doyle resigned from his Downing Street role after criticism of the Government’s communications strategy.
Starmer made him a life peer that December. However, he was later forced to resign the Labour whip in the House of Lords in February after questions were raised about his own links to a paedophile. It emerged that in 2016 Lord Doyle had campaigned for Sean Morton, a former Labour councillor in Scotland who had been charged with possessing indecent images of children.
Lord Doyle later said Morton had denied the charges at the time, including in court. Morton changed his plea to guilty and was convicted in 2018 of what Lord Doyle himself described as “vile” crimes.
Starmer was criticised for granting Lord Doyle a peerage even though Downing Street had been aware of his connection to Morton. A No 10 investigation into the issue was signed off by Tim Allan, Lord Doyle’s successor as communications director, rather than civil servants.
Starmer told MPs last month that Lord Doyle, who has been suspended from Labour pending an investigation, “did not give a full account” of his association with Morton to Allan. Critics say this mirrors the Government’s handling of the Mandelson vetting process.
The Prime Minister has also said a police investigation into Lord Mandelson prevented the Government from releasing further details, including his full responses to the Epstein questions.
Lord Mandelson is under investigation after emails appeared to show he shared confidential information about Gordon Brown’s government with Epstein. He denies any wrongdoing.
The Prime Minister said this week: “The release of the information shows what was known. That led to further questions being asked. Unfortunately, because of the Metropolitan Police investigation, we can’t release that information yet.
“But that doesn’t take away from the fact that it was me that made a mistake, and it’s me that makes the apology to the victims of Epstein, and I do that.”
Starmer told MPs last month that Lord Doyle “did not give a full account” of his association with Morton to Allan. The Prime Minister has admitted the appointment process for Lord Mandelson was inadequate.
He said he was not told about the “depth” of Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein and would not have appointed him if he had been. However, civil servants had warned that Lord Mandelson’s links with the US paedophile, who died in jail in 2019, posed a “general reputational risk” to the Government.
Fact-finding call between Mike Ostheimer (General Counsel to the PM) and Jonathan Powell (NSA) approx 8.35pm on September 12, 2025
Summary
• Jonathan Powell (JP) found the appointment process unusual of Lord Mandelson (LM) weirdly rushed, noted Nin Pandit holding PPS [Parliamentary Private Secretary] pen and Ailsa Terry handling FCDO [Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office].
• JP doesn’t recall any specific meetings on this that he was involved in, though there were a few conversations.
• JP raised concerns about the individual and reputation to Morgan McSweeney (MM).
• MM responded that the issues had been addressed.
• In terms of PM engagement, JP believes the PM may have had a couple of political conversations around this but JP was not party.
• In respect of correspondence from LM to the PM, JP didn’t see anything himself. JP had a vague feeling there was some incoming communication from LM to someone but has low confidence in that or what it was.
• JP noted FCDO PUS [Permanent Under-Secretary] was Philip Barton at the time who also had reservations around the appointment.
The Prime Minister has also faced criticism for ignoring warnings from officials, including Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, and Sir Philip Barton, the most senior civil servant at the Foreign Office.
According to the Mandelson Files, Powell said he had not seen any “correspondence between Mandelson and the PM” and did not recall any specific meetings about the matter, “though there were a few conversations”.
Similarly, Lord Doyle told government lawyers he did not have a “unilateral meeting” with Lord Mandelson to discuss the appointment but had discussed the issue individually with McSweeney.
Starmer’s insistence in the Commons that “due process” was followed has prompted accusations from the Conservatives that he misled MPs. Badenoch said the files suggested there had been a “cover-up” designed to distance the Prime Minister from a decision likely to prove controversial.
The Conservatives have written to Sir Laurie Magnus, the No 10 ethics adviser, calling for a full investigation into the appointment and any potential breaches of the ministerial code.
Lord Doyle declined to comment.
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