Yvette Cooper has said that Lord Peter Mandelson should “never have been appointed” as ambassador to the US, as she sidestepped a question on whether Sir Keir Starmer is a strong and effective leader.
The Foreign Secretary described the disclosure of messages over Lord Mandelson’s appointment as an “unedifying process”, a day after the Government released a second tranche of more than 1,000 pages of documents. Some of the messages proved embarrassing for ministers, including for Sir Keir, whom Lord Mandelson described as “consistently going for direction B”.
Asked about the disgraced peer’s portrayal of the Prime Minister’s working cycle as “advance/buckle/advance/buckle”, Ms Cooper told reporters during a trip to Beijing: “What I would say is that Peter Mandelson should never have been appointed as ambassador to the United States, and look, of course there’s been a lot of transparency now about messages being released. That’s always an unedifying process but right to be transparent.”
She added: “We mustn’t forget two things, first is that in the end this whole thing started about Epstein’s abuse of young women and girls, and sometimes the conversation gets pulled away from that, and secondly, I think the whole Government is getting on with the most important issues that affect our country.”
The Foreign Secretary evaded a question on whether she could describe the Prime Minister as a strong and effective leader, replying: “I’m in China pursuing issues around international security which follows on from the Prime Minister’s visit here to China with President Xi earlier this year.”
Sir Keir sacked Lord Mandelson in September 2025 after leaked emails showed the peer sent supportive messages even as Jeffrey Epstein faced jail for sex offences. MPs voted earlier this year to force the disclosure of documents relating to his time as ambassador. The latest release included records of WhatsApp exchanges between Lord Mandelson and Cabinet minister Pat McFadden that revealed the latter’s frustration with his colleagues.
