Epstein fallout: UK’s Starmer faces hurdles and rivals as he battles to keep his job
By Associated Press, February 6, 2026British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a battle to stay in post after the fallout from his decision in 2024 to appoint veteran politician Peter Mandelson as the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. despite the latter’s ties to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer’s judgment is in the spotlight like never before, especially after the release last week of millions of Epstein-related documents by the U.S. Justice Department showed how close those links were.
There’s widespread anger that the prime minister appointed Mandelson, a grandee of Starmer’s own Labour Party, to such a sensitive and high-profile post. Starmer had already sacked Mandelson after a first batch of emails was published in September, showing he remained friends with Epstein after the late financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offences involving a minor.
But the emails made public this week show that Mandelson, as a member of the then Labour Cabinet, also passed on sensitive, and potentially market-moving, government information in 2009 to the disgraced financier.
Starmer’s leadership has now been called into question. Several Labour lawmakers have said that he should quit, while others are clearly uncomfortable, following a series of missteps since the party returned to power in a landslide victory in July 2024.
Starmer is trying to fight back. He has apologised to the British public and to the victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking for believing what he has termed “Mandelson’s lies.”
There are several ways in which Starmer could go, some more straightforward than others.
The easiest way
The simplest option is that Starmer announces his intention to resign, triggering an election for the Labour leadership. A resignation could possibly come if a delegation of Cabinet members tells Starmer he has lost too much support within the party or if members of his government quit in protest.
Those considered to harbour leadership ambitions include Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Home Secretary Shabana Mahood and former deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, who had to resign last year after admitting she didn’t pay enough tax on a house purchase. The problem for Rayner is that an investigation into that is ongoing.
But there’s no clear frontrunner.
Andy Burnham, the popular mayor of Manchester who was blocked from standing at a special election in the city later this month, would not be eligible as the leader must come from the parliamentary party.
Whoever does run, the election would likely take weeks, with Starmer likely staying in post until that concludes.
If Starmer decides to resign immediately, the Cabinet and Labour’s governing body would likely pick an interim leader to be prime minister, probably someone not standing to be Labour leader. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy could fit the bill.
Under Labour’s rules, candidates must have the support of a fifth of the parliamentary party, which equates to 80 lawmakers.
Those meetings that meet that threshold would then have to receive the support of 5 per cent of the local constituency Labour parties or at least party affiliates, of which two must be trade unions. Affiliates are groups or organisations that are deemed to have interests consistent with those of the Labour Party, including trade unions and co-operative and socialist societies.