Sir Olly Robbins, the UK Foreign Office's top civil servant, has been forced to resign after the department overruled a security vetting failure for Peter Mandelson, paving the way for his appointment as US ambassador. The Guardian understands that Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper lost confidence in Robbins following revelations that Mandelson was initially denied clearance in late January 2025.
Mandelson failed a developed vetting process, a highly confidential background check by security officials. However, the Foreign Office employed a rarely used authority to override the recommendation, allowing Mandelson to take up the ambassadorial role. The decision was made just three weeks after Robbins took over as permanent secretary from Sir Philip Barton.
Yvette Cooper reportedly only learned of the vetting failure when The Guardian broke the story on Thursday. She spent the evening in discussions with Starmer and Robbins, concluding that Robbins could no longer continue in post. Downing Street issued a statement stressing that Starmer and then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy had no prior knowledge of the security officials' advice, placing responsibility on the Foreign Office.
Labour MP Chris Curtis called Robbins' departure "the right decision" but urged broader reflection. Opposition parties have called for Starmer's resignation, with one anonymous minister telling The Times: "This is a tipping point. There can be no more excuses." Robbins, a former Brexit negotiator, had been in the role for only three weeks when the Mandelson decision was made.
