{"id":450342,"date":"2026-04-23T19:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T19:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/450342\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T19:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T19:06:21","slug":"when-you-lose-your-main-selling-point-not-much-remains-britains-pm-keir-starmer-on-the-brink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/450342\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018When you lose your main selling point, not much remains\u2019 \u2013 Britain\u2019s PM Keir Starmer on the brink"},"content":{"rendered":"

Failed vetting of Peter Mandelson over ties to Jeffrey Epstein sparks questions over who knew what, and when\n<\/p>\n

Less than two years later, accusations that his office forced through a key appointment have shattered that image of competence. Embroiled in a scandal over his decision to appoint Labour Party veteran Peter Mandelson to Britain\u2019s top diplomatic post as ambassador to the US, Starmer\u2019s grip on power appears to be slipping and his leadership skills are in question.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s office denies allegations made by Britain\u2019s former top foreign ministry official, Olly Robbins, that it put pressure on his team to accelerate Mandelson\u2019s appointment last year.<\/p>\n

But Robbins\u2019 testimony to a parliamentary committee on Tuesday, days after he was sacked, has exposed what Starmer\u2019s opponents say is a lack of political instinct.<\/p>\n

\n

Starmer may have hoped sacking Mandelson marked the end of the saga<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Three people close to his Downing Street operation told Reuters there had been an over-reliance on a small group of trusted advisers that meant Starmer had been blindsided by outside events and become detached from his party and the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarmer presented himself as if he was going to be holier-than-thou and at least competent,\u201d Chris Hopkins, political research director at polling firm Savanta, told Reuters. \u201cWhen you lose what are your main selling points you don\u2019t have much left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer appointed Mandelson (72), who served as a minister when Labour was last in power more than 15 years ago, in late 2024, hailing his \u201cunrivalled experience to the role\u201d.<\/p>\n

He sacked him last September after a trove of emails revealed the depth of Mandelson\u2019s ties with the late convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n

British police arrested Mandelson in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office but he has not been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n

While Starmer may have hoped sacking Mandelson marked the end of the political saga, last week he said information had come to light that a vetting body had advised against the appointment in the first place.<\/p>\n

Robbins confirmed that Starmer had not been told about the advice. But he said Downing Street had conveyed \u201ca very, very strong expectation\u201d that Mandelson should be appointed quickly.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter Mandelson, who had ties to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Photo: PA<\/p>\n

\u201cI think throughout January [2025], honestly, my office, the foreign secretary\u2019s office, were under constant pressure,\u201d Robbins said, recalling the \u201cfrequent phone calls\u201d from Starmer\u2019s private office. He described himself as a \u201cscapegoat\u201d.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s spokesperson rejected Robbins\u2019 allegations, saying there was a distinction between applying pressure and being kept informed.<\/p>\n

The war of words is a long way from Starmer\u2019s early days in office, however, when he pledged to \u201crestore honesty and integrity to government\u201d.<\/p>\n

The three sources close to Downing Street, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Starmer had initially relied on a small group of trusted advisers who acted as \u201cgatekeepers\u201d, often deciding what he did or did not have time for. Many of those advisers have since left and Starmer now meets more regularly with Labour lawmakers who previously objected to his \u201cbunker mentality\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

Policy U-turns have been held up as proof of his weakness<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

One source said Downing Street was now more functional than six months ago.<\/p>\n

But it may be too little, too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s terminal,\u201d said one Labour lawmaker, although they said there would be no immediate move to oust Starmer largely because \u201ccolleagues are terrified of the unknown\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"British<\/p>\n

British prime minister Keir Starmer is under pressure from his handling of the Peter Mandelson affair. Photo: PA Wire<\/p>\n

News in 90 Seconds – 23rd April 2026<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Starmer said the government was focused on delivering for working people, including helping to tackle the cost of living and cutting waiting times in the state-run health service.<\/p>\n

Starmer has repeatedly expressed anger over the Mandelson saga, and members of his team support his self-portrait of being incandescent over not being told about the security vetting body\u2019s advice.<\/p>\n

Those closest to him say it also runs against how he operates \u2013 running his office methodically and never taking decisions \u201con a whim\u201d.<\/p>\n

Once Britain\u2019s former top prosecutor, Starmer sees it as a strength to be able to listen and change his mind when needed.<\/p>\n

Instead, policy U-turns including several reversals on welfare have been held up by commentators and even his own lawmakers as proof of his weakness.<\/p>\n

\n

That is going to be almost impossible for him to recover from<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But his former reliance on a handful of advisers may prove to have been his biggest weakness. One source said he explicitly trusted his advisers to do the right thing, yet since taking office in July 2024 he has lost more than 10 of them, including two chiefs of staff and four directors of communication.<\/p>\n

A second Labour lawmaker, who served under former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and asked not to be named, said Starmer and his team had thought they did not need input from the wider party.<\/p>\n

Starmer appears to have few defenders left in Labour and the questions over his judgment in appointing Mandelson \u2013 twice sacked from cabinet under Blair and whose friendship with Epstein was known \u2013 are unlikely to stop any time soon.<\/p>\n

More documents relating to the appointment are expected to be released after local and regional elections on May 7, when Labour looks set to suffer large losses at the hands of the populist Reform UK party led by Brexit veteran Nigel Farage.<\/p>\n

\u201cLabour and Starmer are now seen as more of the same as before,\u201d said Hopkins. \u201cAnd that is going to be almost impossible for him to recover from.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Failed vetting of Peter Mandelson over ties to Jeffrey Epstein sparks questions over who knew what, and when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,13,14,6,15098,5446,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-450342","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-featured-news","11":"tag-featurednews","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-jeffrey-epstein","14":"tag-keir-starmer","15":"tag-latest-news","16":"tag-latestnews","17":"tag-main-news","18":"tag-mainnews","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-top-stories","21":"tag-topstories","22":"tag-world","23":"tag-world-news","24":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116455590724974352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}