Peter Mandelson began seeking advice from convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on how to land highly paid senior roles at BP and Glencore within days of Labour's 2010 electoral defeat, emails reveal. The messages, released by the US justice department among millions of pages of files on Epstein, show the former cabinet minister touting himself for lucrative jobs at global businesses.
The emails detail Mandelson's pursuit of a job with Glencore, the mining firm known as the 'billionaire factory' due to huge rewards from its $60bn stock market float in 2011. Mandelson offered to help the company with 'government attention and interference' as it prepared its listing. The pair also discussed a possible role at BP as a 'fireman' to manage the fallout from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Mandelson's job hunt began in earnest on 22 May 2010, 11 days after Labour lost power. He wrote to Epstein saying he was due to meet Glencore's billionaire chief executive Ivan Glasenberg, highlighting Glasenberg's stake in Xstrata which 'may be looking for a chairman'. The following month, Mandelson reported no call from Glasenberg.
Epstein suggested Mandelson offer to be 'in charge of this crisis, in all aspects' at BP. Mandelson responded asking if he would come in as a 'highly paid adviser'. However, the priority remained Glencore. In June, Epstein advised leveraging a separate job offer from Deutsche Bank against Glencore.
In July, Mandelson pitched directly to Glasenberg, describing himself as an 'experienced pair of hands' with knowledge of politics and regulatory trends. He wrote that business would face 'a lot more government attention and interference'. Glasenberg replied the same day to arrange a meeting. Glencore later faced scrutiny over tax and environmental issues.
