Newly released documents reveal that Peter Mandelson, as president of his advisory firm Global Counsel, lobbied hard for ministers to attend his events and meet his staff in the months after Labour's general election win. Emails and WhatsApp messages show how the Labour peer actively worked his government contacts to the potential advantage of both his company and his campaign to become chancellor of Oxford University.
Mandelson's Outreach to Ministers
Just days after the 2024 general election, Mandelson sent a WhatsApp message to Spencer Livermore, the financial secretary to the Treasury, asking for lunch. Lord Livermore accepted, and Mandelson suggested meeting away from the Treasury. The exchange indicates that a Global Counsel employee was also to be invited.
Days later, Mandelson emailed Patrick Vallance, the new science minister, after seeing him the previous evening. In an email from his Global Counsel address titled 'Economic change', Mandelson shared reflections on his time as a minister. Two months later, he invited Vallance to a panel event on research and innovation in Oxford, which Mandelson said was not a campaign event but an attempt to stimulate interest. Vallance suggested postponing it until after the chancellor election to avoid being seen as part of that process.
Introduction to Trade Minister
On 22 July, Mandelson emailed Douglas Alexander, the new trade minister, introducing him to a Global Counsel employee after a meeting the previous day. Mandelson wrote: 'As Douglas is now going to try and push trade policy up hill on behalf of our great nation, I really think you two should meet and talk asap.' Alexander responded positively, and a WhatsApp exchange confirmed the meeting took place. Alexander later told Mandelson it was 'the single most enlightening conversation I’ve had in the last month on trade.' Mandelson replied: 'Good. Happy to help further.'
In October 2024, Mandelson also emailed Alexander a lecture on a 'High investment economy.'
Clean Energy Roundtable
In September 2024, Mandelson emailed Sarah Jones, an industry minister, from his Global Counsel account, asking her to attend a roundtable on the government's clean energy mission. He wrote: 'I am keen to bring together a group of interesting and, hopefully, lively people to discuss this opportunity and challenge.' The minister did not immediately respond, and a Global Counsel senior associate sent four follow-up emails, stating that 'Lord Mandelson has asked me to follow up.'
The files are part of a vast data tranche that MPs voted to release in February, relating to Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador. Members of the House of Lords can have financial interests in organisations involved in parliamentary lobbying but are prohibited from offering parliamentary advice or services to clients. Global Counsel, whose clients have included TikTok, Palantir, Shell, and Anglo American, was founded by Mandelson in 2010. He resigned as a director in May 2024 but remained president until January 2025, when he took up his short-lived role as UK ambassador to Washington. The company went into administration in February after disclosures about Mandelson’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
