British Prime Minister Keir Starmer talks with Britain's Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence on February 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. | Carl Court/AFP via Getty Images

The questions about the exact nature of Donald Trump’s relationship with the late financier and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein that have dogged his presidency in both terms were given fresh life last week when the Justice Department released millions of new “Epstein files.”

But for all that Trump, and any number of other powerful men, would prefer that the ongoing Epstein story go away, its actual political impact in the US may end up being limited, relative to the attention the story has gotten. Barring a massive new shoe dropping, Trump will not be forced to resign over Epstein, nor will Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who testified in Congress on Tuesday about having had lunch on Epstein’s island in 2012 after previously indicating he’d broken off ties years earlier.

It’s not clear any other high-ranking political figures or business leaders whose names turn up in the files will suffer major consequences either. Other prominent US figures have suffered reputational damage, to be sure, but if the last 30 years of American political life have taught us anything, it’s that Larry Summers will be back.

The same cannot be said of every country, however. The world leader most likely to be brought down by the Epstein files is not Trump, but British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The files contain some extremely damaging information about Peter Mandelson, a longtime power player in Starmer’s Labour Party whom he appointed as ambassador to the United States, despite the fact that Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was already public knowledge.

The revelations have thrown the British government into turmoil. Two senior Starmer aides — his chief of staff and his communications director — have already resigned over their roles in Mandelson’s appointment, and a third is likely on his way out. On Monday, the leader of Scotland’s Labour Party, Anas Sarwar, became the most senior figure to call on Starmer to resign. So far, Starmer is defiantly rejecting calls to step down and other Cabinet ministers are rallying around the prime minister, but some highly placed sources reportedly believe it’s a coin toss whether he remains in power.

Ironically, it appears that by pushing for the release of the files, over Trump’s objection, congressional Democrats in the US may inadvertently bring down the center-left leader of another country entirely.

But why exactly is this happening?

Who is Mandelson and what did he do wrong?

Mandelson, 72, has been an active and extremely public figure in Labour Party politics since the 1980s. He’s had a number of Cabinet positions........

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