Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the United States, was arrested by U.K. detectives on Monday over misconduct claims in connection with his alleged ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office,” London’s Metropolitan Police department told the Guardian. “He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, February 23 and has been taken to a London police station for interview.”
Mandelson previously resigned from the House of Lords in early February after he was named in the latest batch of the U.S. Justice Department’s Epstein files. The files implicated that Mandelson had informed Epstein of confidential government tax plans.
In September 2025, Prime Minister Keir Starmer fired Mandelson from his role as ambassador to the U.S. after a series of emails between Mandelson and Epstein became public. Starmer had said the emails revealed that Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was “materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.”
But as the DOJ began releasing the Epstein files in accordance with the law of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Mandelson was named in several documents, leading to a resurgence of scrutiny aimed at the public official. He first resigned from the Labour Party in early February before stepping back from the House of Lords.
U.K. police have said they are investigating accusations that Mandelson told Epstein classified information. This leaked information allegedly included warnings to Epstein about future government plans to bail out the European Union, the resignation of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Labour Party’s tax policies, and billions of dollars in government asset sales.
The London Metro Police can hold Mandelson in custody for 24 hours without charging him, though it can extend certain holds for up to 96 hours, according to the Associated Press. Two of Mandelson’s homes were searched by investigators in February.
The release of the Epstein files in the U.S. has had sweeping international effects, with Mandelson being the latest international leader under arrest after falling from grace with the rollout of the files. U.K. police arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, last week in relation to his connections to Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor was held in custody for 11 hours before he was released without being charged.
HERE’S WHO HAS FALLEN FROM THE EPSTEIN FILES
Parisian prosecutors also launched an investigation into the sexual and financial crimes related to the former New York sex trafficker in France.
In the U.S., the only people to be arrested in connection with Epstein’s crimes have been Epstein himself and his former girlfriend and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
