Former UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, resigned from the Labour Party on Sunday after new disclosures emerged regarding his association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a letter addressed to Labour Party general secretary Hollie Ridley, Lord Mandelson said he did not wish to “cause further embarrassment” to the party because of his links to Epstein, according to the BBC.
Mandelson had already been dismissed from his post as UK ambassador to the US in September last year, when Prime Minister Keir Starmer removed him from the role amid concerns over his connections to Epstein.
His decision to leave the party followed the latest release of documents by the US Department of Justice on Friday.
The newly released files indicate that Epstein made three separate payments of $25,000 each, amounting to $75,000, to accounts said to be linked to Mandelson in 2003 and 2004.
In his resignation letter, Mandelson wrote: “I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furor surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this.”
He added: “Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me.
“While doing this, I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party, and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party,” he said.
The latest developments come amid increasing pressure from UK politicians for Mandelson to be removed from the House of Lords, where he is currently listed as being “on leave of absence.”
The newly released tranche of Epstein-related documents also included images of Mandelson wearing only underwear. In some of the photographs, he is seen standing next to a woman whose face has been redacted.
