The U.K. Government released a vast trove of documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as U.S. Ambassador, in a move that threatens to cause fresh damage to Keir Starmer’s faltering premiership.

More than 1,500 pages of documentation were published on the British government’s website just after 2 p.m. local time. They include emails, text messages and other exchanges between government ministers, aides and Mr. Mandelson in the run-up to his appointment as U.S. Envoy, a post he held from February to September 2025.

The release resurfaces a saga that has weakened and embarrassed Mr. Starmer over the nine months since Bloomberg News exposed the extent of Mr. Mandelson’s ties with the late pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. An earlier tranche of documents in March showed official vetting of Mr. Mandelson had warned of “reputational risks” over Mr. Mandelson’s Epstein ties.

The scale of Monday’s (June 1, 2026) drop — described by the government as one of the biggest-ever Parliamentary publications — means its full impact on Mr. Starmer won’t immediately be known. 

But the Prime Minister has already suffered months-long blowback from both opposition parties and his own Labour MPs concerning the judgment he showed in appointing Mr. Mandelson, given the former Labour grandee’s history of resigning in disgrace from past government roles and a penchant for political maneuvering that earned him the nickname “Prince of Darkness.”

The scandal has already led to the departure of Mr. Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who quit in February citing his advice to the premier to appoint Mr. Mandelson. He was followed out of Downing Street by Tim Allan, who had been director of communications. 

The disclosure of information relating to the former envoy was forced on the government in February by the main opposition Conservative Party, using an arcane parliamentary procedure known as a humble address. Under its terms, the government must disclose communications between Mr. Mandelson and Ministers and officials for the six months prior to his appointment as Ambassador, and throughout his seven-month tenure. 

That has been complicated by the police investigation into the former envoy, with officers requesting that some information be withheld so as not to prejudice their probe.

Ahead of the publication on Monday (June 1, 2026), Mr. Starmer’s spokesman, Tom Wells. told reporters the task had involved every government department, resulting in the largest ever response to a humble address.

“It represents thousands of hours of work from officials across the government to deliver an unprecedented piece of government transparency,” Mr. Wells said. “Material of a party-political nature will be included in the publication, which is contrary to usual practice and precedent, in order to demonstrate the maximum possible transparency. A number of documents have also been declassified to enable publication.”

Mr. Starmer’s premiership is hanging in the balance not even two years on from his landslide general election victory in July 2024. His government quickly lost popularity with voters amid a series of scandals and missteps, not least the appointment of Mandelson himself.

Heavy losses at a set of local elections in May led to more than 90 Labour MPs calling for Mr. Starmer to resign. Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, is widely expected to launch a leadership challenge against Mr. Starmer this summer if he can first win a parliamentary special election in northwest England that’s scheduled for June 18.

Since Bloomberg’s investigation into Mr. Mandelson’s Epstein ties, which centered on information published by the U.S. Department of Justice relating to the disgraced financier, further revelations in the Epstein files have led to a police investigation and plunged Mr. Starmer’s administration into political chaos as the premier struggled to defend his handling of the appointment. Mr. Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing.

British Health Minister Wes Streeting resigned ‌from government on ​Thursday (May 14, 2026), saying ⁠he had lost confidence in Prime Minister Keir ‌Starmer’s leadership.

“It is now ‌clear that you ‌will ⁠not lead ⁠the Labour Party into the next general election ​and that ‌Labour MPs and Labour Unions want the debate about what ‌comes next to ​be a battle of ideas, not ⁠of personalities or petty factionalism,” ‌Mr. Streeting said in a letter published on X.

“It needs to be broad, and it ‌needs the best possible ​field of candidates. I support that ⁠approach and I ⁠hope that you will facilitate this.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ‌vowed to fight on and said his government was ​a “10-year project” despite calls to quit after his party’s ⁠drubbing in local elections earlier this week.

Mr. Starmer’s Labour Party recorded the worst losses of a governing party in local elections in more than three decades, prompting ‌a growing number of lawmakers to call for his removal.

A former Minister in Mr. Starmer’s government said she ‌would seek the backing of other lawmakers to trigger a ‌leadership contest ⁠unless his cabinet took steps to remove him by ⁠Monday (May 11).

Asked by the Observer newspaper in an interview published on Sunday (May 10) whether he would lead his Labour Party into the next general election and serve a ​full second term, Mr. Starmer responded: “Yes, I ‌will.”

He added, I’m not going to walk away from the job I was elected to do in July 2024. I’m not going to plunge the country into chaos.”

If Mr. Starmer is removed ‌in the coming weeks, Britain would end up with its ​seventh Prime Minister in the past decade.

“A real kicking”

So far, Mr. Starmer’s cabinet has stayed loyal to the ⁠Prime Minister, despite Thursday’s election losses.

Bridget Phillipson, the Education Minister, said she was confident the Prime Minister could turn things around, telling Sky ‌News on Sunday that Mr. Starmer would set out a “fresh direction” for Britain in a speech on Monday (May 11).

“We got a real kicking from the voters, there’s no escaping that,” she said of Labour’s performance in the elections. “We have to reflect seriously on that.”

Catherine West, who served as a junior foreign minister until Starmer sacked her ‌last year, said she would listen to Starmer’s speech on Monday before making ​a final decision about whether to seek the backing of the 81 members of parliament needed to trigger a leadership ⁠contest.

Asked on Sunday if she was likely to get the ⁠numbers, West told the BBC: “We will find out”.

Starmer must call Britain’s next national election by 2029 at the latest.

If he ‌were still in office at the end of a second five-year term, he would be the third-longest-serving continuous leader in Britain ​in the last two centuries after Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday (May 9, 2026) appointed two veteran leaders in expert advisory roles at Downing Street after a disastrous local election for the governing Labour Party.

Former British Prime Minister and Chancellor Gordon Brown was named Special Envoy on Global Finance and Cooperation and former party leader and Cabinet Minister Harriet Harman as Adviser on Women and Girls.

The appointment of two senior party grandees came a day after Labour’s worst local election performance, losing hundreds of key strongholds across councils in England and ceding control of the devolved Welsh Parliament – casting a long shadow over the future of Mr. Starmer’s leadership.

“On both fronts (Mr. Brown and Ms. Harman) they are very future-looking roles; they’re vital to how we strengthen our country and take it forward,” Mr. Starmer told reporters.

“We have to set out the path ahead, and that’s what I intend to do in the coming days – how we rebuild, how we convince people about hope for the future. And we haven’t done enough of that,” he said.

He reiterated that he did not intend to walk away and “plunge the country into chaos” following the “tough” election results.

“We made unnecessary mistakes. One of which was that we, rightly in my view, levelled with the public about the challenges that we face as a country, both on the finances and internationally. But what we didn’t do enough was to convince them about the change that would impact them, and how their lives would be better. The hope wasn’t there enough in the first two years of this government,” he said.

“I think the right thing to do is to rebuild and show the path forward,” he said.

On the appointment of the two Labour Party grandees, Mr. Starmer said that as Britain’s longest-serving chancellor, Mr. Brown is well placed to work with international allies to boost the country’s security and resilience.

Meanwhile, Ms. Harman’s unpaid, part-time role will involve working with ministers across government to drive an “impactful agenda” focusing on tackling violence against women and girls, unlocking economic opportunity and improving representation, Downing Street said.

“The role will see her draw on work with women across Parliament to identify action needed to tackle misogyny and deliver greater opportunity for women in parliamentary and public life,” it stated.

The two new posts are being seen as Mr. Starmer’s attempt at bolstering support within the party ranks by addressing the cost-of-living challenges that led to voters turning away from the two main parties – the governing Labour and Opposition Conservatives.

The anti-immigration Reform U.K. emerged as the biggest beneficiary of this backlash, picking up hundreds of new councillors all over the country, and the far-left Greens and Liberal Democrats also made considerable gains.

Several Labour MPs have broken ranks to demand Mr. Starmer set out a timeline for his departure as party leader and PM following the sweeping losses, including in Scotland, where the Scottish National Party (SNP) is set to form the government and Labour is tied with Reform U.K. for second place.

Meanwhile, in Wales, a traditional Labour heartland, voters gave the regional centre-left Plaid Cymru a slim majority for the first time since devolution in 1999.

Partial results from local elections in England on Friday (May 8, 2026) showed big losses for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s governing Labour Party and gains for the hard-right party Reform U.K.

The votes are being widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Mr. Starmer, elected less than two years ago.

Areas that counted their ballots overnight saw Reform U.K., led by Nigel Farage, win hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north such as Hartlepool.

The picture will change throughout on Friday (May 8, 2026) as results come in from the majority of local councils, including Labour strongholds like London. Votes will also be counted in contests for semiautonomous parliaments in Scotland and Wales.

A Labour rout could trigger moves by restive party lawmakers to oust a leader who led them to power in July 2024. Even if Starmer survives for now, many analysts doubt he will lead the party into the next national election, which must be held by 2029.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy cautioned the party not to topple the Prime Minister, saying “you don’t change the pilot during the flight.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday (April 28, 2026) won a crucial Parliament vote as MPs voted against a motion calling for him to face an ethics inquiry into his conduct.

Members of Parliament voted 335 to 223 against a Privileges Committee investigation into whether he had misled the House of Commons over the appointment of disgraced peer Peter Mandelson as the U.K.’s ambassador to the U.S.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted Wednesday (April 22, 2026) he would not resign, claiming allegations of misleading MPs over his appointment of a party loyalist as UK envoy to Washington had been “put to bed”.

Mr. Starmer’s remarks in Parliament came as the beleaguered premier faced fresh calls to step down over his admitted error of judgement in appointing veteran former politician Peter Mandelson to the coveted post.

The premier spoke to lawmakers a day after the Foreign Ministry’s most senior official, Olly Robbins, gave evidence to a parliamentary committee having been fired by Mr. Starmer over the affair last week.

U.S. President Donald Trump criticised U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the U.K.’s refusal to support the initial U.S.-Israel offensive strikes on Iran, saying the U.S.-U.K. relationship was “not like it used to be”. Mr Starmer had not permitted the U.S. access to U.K. bases initially, later, permitting access for “agreed defensive purposes” only.

The relationship was the “most solid relationship of all,” Mr. Trump told The Sun newspaper, adding, “And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe.” The relationship between London and Washington is often referred to as a “special relationship” by both governments.

“He [Mr. Starmer] has not been helpful… I never thought I’d see that from the U.K. We love the U.K.,” Mr. Trump said as per reports.

Addressing the House of Commons on Monday (March 2, 2026) evening, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had said there was a “deliberate” decision not to get involved in the initial U.S.-Israel strike on Iran, which began on Saturday (February 28, 2026) morning, and that the U.K. preferred instead to pursue a negotiated settlement.

“President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the intiial strikes,” the Prime Minister said, adding that he was however acting in Britain’s interest in not joining the strike.

“We all remember the mistakes of Iraq, and we have learned those lessons,” Mr. Starmer said. The Prime Minister repeatedly said that his government had sought legal advice before undertaking operations in the region and that it did not “believe in regime change from the skies”.

A drone had hit the British base RAF Akrotiri on Sunday (February 28, 2026) night, Mr. Starmer said. He was quick to emphasise that the base, located in Cyprus, was not being used by U.S. bombers, after the U.K. was criticised for poor communication by the Cyprus government. While the British government has not officially identified the source of the drones, Cypriot officials had suggested that it was launched from Lebanon, home to Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The Conservative Party backed the U.S. actions, party leader Kemi Badenoch said, as she criticised Mr Starmer for taking time to permit allies to use U.K. bases. She stopped short of suggesting that Britain should have joined the U.S.-Israel strikes. Ms. Badenoch also pointed out that the U.S. was necessary for Ukraine’ sand Europe’ s security.

The far right Reform U.K. also criticized Mr. Starmer for not joining the strikes.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended on Monday (March 2, 2026) his decision to keep Britain out of the United States and Israel’s initial strikes against Iran following criticism from President Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump told Britain’s Daily Telegraph he was “very disappointed” with Mr. Starmer’s initial refusal to let Washington use British military bases in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, launched on Saturday (February 28, 2026).

“President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest,” Mr. Starmer told Parliament. “That is what I have done and I stand by it,” he added.

After initially refusing to have any role in the strikes, Mr. Starmer on Sunday (March 1, 2026) announced that he had agreed to a U.S. request to use British military bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.

His Downing Street office said the Prime Minister took the decision after Iran fired missiles over the weekend that put British interests and people “at risk”.

“We all remember the mistakes of Iraq, and we have learnt those lessons. Any U.K. actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable thought-through plan,” he told lawmakers.

The Prime Minister also said that British military bases in Cyprus “are not being used by U.S. bombers” during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Britain’s Akrotiri air force base on Cyprus came under attack by an unmanned Iranian drone that hit the base’s runway.

Mr. Starmer said the strike “was not in response to any decision that we have taken,” adding that the British government believed the drone “was launched prior to our announcement”.

Iran’s approach is becoming “more reckless and more dangerous”, Mr. Starmer said.

“They are working ruthlessly and deliberately through a plan to strike, not only military targets, but also economic targets in the region, with no regard for civilian casualties. That is the situation we face today and to which we must respond.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney resigned on Sunday (February 8, 2026), taking “full responsibility” for advising Mr. Starmer to appoint Peter Mandelson as Britain’s envoy to Washington. Mr. Mandelson was sacked in September after the extent of his links to sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein became publicly known. A tranche of Epstein-related documents released on January 30, revealed further details of the association between Epstein and Mr. Mandelson. Mr. Mandelson has denied wrongdoing.

“The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself,” Mr. McSweeney wrote. However, he also said that he did not oversee the due diligence process, as he called for that process to be overhauled.

The Mandelson-scandal had led to calls from Mr Starmer’s opponents for the Prime Minister to resign. This comes when Mr Starmer is faring poorly in opinion polls with pressure from MPs in his own party to step down, despite leading the Labour Party in a landslide general election victory in July 2024. Mr McSweeney was a key associate of Mr Starmer, and it is as yet unclear how his resignation will impact Mr Starmer’s ability to continue in office.

 Following the document-release on January 30, the Metropolitan Police launched a criminal investigation against Mr Mandelson for misconduct, related to the alleged sharing of market-sensitive documents in 2009 and 2010.

Leader of the Opposition and Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, said Mr Starmer had to take responsibility for “his own terrible decisions”.

Mr Starmer had apologized last week to Epstein’s victims for believing Mr Mandelson’s “lies”, saying “ the depths and darkness” of Mr Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein were not known to him.