Embattled British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, has resigned over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington despite his links to United States convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
McSweeney announced his resignation via a statement issued on Sunday, February 8, 2026.
McSweeney noted: “After careful reflection, I have decided to resign from the government.
“The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself.
“I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice.”
The 48-year-old Irishman always maintained a low profile but was dubbed by some as the “most powerful man in politics” having played a key role in Starmer’s emphatic election victory in July 2024.
He is credited with helping to move the Labour Party towards a more centrist policy agenda following leftist ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn’s ill-fated tenure.
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He was also said to have been close to Mandelson who previously helped ex-prime minister Tony Blair transform the party and its fortunes in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The resignation came as the foreign ministry said it was reviewing an exit payment to Mandelson, who was sacked by Starmer in September 2025 over his friendship with the late Epstein.
Mandelson, a pivotal figure in British politics and the Labour Party for decades, received an estimated pay-out of between £38,750 and £55,000 ($52,000 to $74,000) after only seven months in the job, according to a report in the Sunday Times.
Documents released on January 30 by the US Justice Department showed that Mandelson leaked confidential UK government information to financier Epstein when he was a British minister, including during the 2008 financial crisis.
The revelation has placed intense pressure on Starmer and triggered a police investigation into Mandelson, 72, for alleged misconduct in a public office.
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