In a significant address to Parliament on Monday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer provided the most comprehensive chronology of Peter Mandelson’s selection as the UK’s representative to the United States. He outlined the evaluation procedure, which concluded with the Foreign Office overriding the UK Security Vetting agency’s advice, and highlighted missed opportunities for officials to inform him of procedural lapses.
December 2024: Initial assessment of Mandelson begins. The Cabinet Office evaluates Mandelson’s suitability for the position. Starmer informed lawmakers that his Downing Street team relayed inquiries to Mandelson on behalf of the department.
December 10, 2024: Mandelson responds to assessment inquiries. Mandelson replies to the Cabinet Office’s questions, which were conveyed by Downing Street personnel, according to Starmer’s statement to Parliament.
December 18, 2024: Starmer chooses Mandelson for the role. ‘I decided to select him,’ Starmer stated to lawmakers, following receipt of concluding recommendations from the assessment on December 11, 2024.
December 20, 2024: Mandelson’s selection is announced publicly. Despite his documented connections to the convicted financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and his prior resignations from ministerial posts in earlier administrations, Mandelson is named as the envoy to the United States.
December 23, 2024: Security evaluation of Mandelson commences. The UK Security Vetting agency conducts the review ‘in the standard manner,’ the prime minister noted, involving the gathering of pertinent details and two interviews with the candidate.
January 25, 2025: Mandelson assumes the position as UK envoy to the United States. Starmer emphasized to Parliament that it is typical for security checks to occur post-selection but prior to commencing duties, as per the existing protocol. Defending the process, he stated that Mandelson’s selection was conditional on obtaining security approval.
January 28, 2025: Mandelson does not pass security evaluation. The UK Security Vetting agency advises the Foreign Office against granting developed vetting approval to Mandelson.
January 29, 2025: Foreign Office authorizes Mandelson’s security approval. Officials at the Foreign Office decide to provide developed vetting approval for Peter Mandelson, Starmer told lawmakers, attributing the choice to the department’s senior civil servant. He further criticized Foreign Office staff, explaining that while many agencies treat UK Security Vetting decisions as final, the Foreign Office retains authority over such approvals.
September 10, 2025: Starmer learns Mandelson provided false information to Downing Street team. The prime minister states he first discovered Mandelson’s dishonesty in the assessment when Bloomberg published emails showing Mandelson urged Epstein to seek early release.
September 11, 2025: Mandelson is dismissed, and Downing Street evades inquiries about his evaluation. Starmer removes Mandelson from the envoy role shortly after The Independent questions Downing Street on whether Mandelson received evaluation approval. A representative responded: ‘Evaluation handled by the Foreign Office in the usual manner.’
November 3, 2025: Former cabinet secretary confirms security checks follow political selections. To support his position, the prime minister cited in Parliament his ex-cabinet secretary Chris Wormald’s testimony to the foreign affairs committee, stating that for external government appointments, security approval typically occurs after selection but before contract signing and role commencement.
September 16, 2026: ‘All evaluation procedures were adhered to’ – Sir Chris Wormald states. The prime minister references his former cabinet secretary once more in Parliament, this time noting Wormald’s post-dismissal assessment that ‘proper protocols’ were observed at the Foreign Office.
April 14, 2026: Starmer informed that Mandelson failed clearance but Foreign Office approved it regardless. At 8 p.m. last Tuesday, Starmer revealed he learned for the first time that on January 29, 2025, prior to Mandelson beginning as envoy, Foreign Office officials issued him developed vetting approval despite the UK Security Vetting agency’s explicit recommendation against it. During the same discussion with officials, Starmer directed them to ‘quickly determine the details,’ as he sought to understand ‘who decided and on what grounds.’
April 16, 2026: The Guardian discloses Mandelson failed evaluation but Foreign Office reversed the ruling. Olly Robbins is compelled to leave his position as permanent secretary of the Foreign Office after The Guardian reports that his department disregarded a recommendation to withhold security approval from Mandelson.
April 17, 2026: The Guardian reports Starmer was not informed about Mandelson’s failed evaluation. Robbins, the ex-permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, cabinet secretary Antonia Romeo, and another senior official did not promptly notify the prime minister that Mandelson was advised against receiving clearance.
