In one shake: Epstein scandal threatens Starmer with resignation
A large-scale domestic political crisis is breaking out in the UK, threatening Prime Minister Keir Starmer with early retirement. The scandal surrounding the ties of former Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein has already led to dismissals in the Downing Street office and a sharp drop in Labor's ratings. While the Reform UK party, led by Nigell Farage, is gaining points, experts predict a change in the leader of the British government immediately after the spring local elections. About how the "Epstein case" affects European politics — in the material of Izvestia.
A crisis is growing in the UK government
The British government has entered a period of turbulence. The story of Jeffrey Epstein's scandalous correspondence files began to directly threaten Keir Starmer: public calls for his resignation intensified in the Labor Party. In particular, such a demand was made by the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Anas Sarwar. On February 8-9, two key assistants to the Prime Minister, Communications Director Tim Allan and Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, have already left their posts. The latter took responsibility for advising on the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States, which was the catalyst for the current crisis.
Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein
On the evening of February 9, at a closed meeting with Labour MPs, Starmer admitted that Mandelson's appointment was a mistake, but declared his unwillingness to leave Downing Street. Nevertheless, the Prime minister's position looks extremely shaky. He is currently supported by Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper, Finance Minister Rachel Reeves and Deputy David Lammy. Angela Rayner, Starmer's former deputy, also offered "full support," although she is considered by experts to be one of the leading candidates for the post of prime minister in the event of his departure. In addition to Rayner, Minister of Health Wes Streeting is being discussed among the candidates for his place.
Significant dissatisfaction with Starmer's governing style and unresolved socio-economic problems has accumulated within the Labor Party and in British society, Oleg Okhoshin, a senior researcher at the Center for British Studies at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia. According to him, the scandal severely damages the image of the current government, increases British distrust of the government and in the future may push the Labor Party to split.
The next test of strength for the cabinet will be the local elections, the main stage of which is scheduled for May 7. The popularity of the Labor Party today is at a historically low level — about 19%, while Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK party is confidently leading with 26-32% support.
UK police begin searching Peter Mandelson's home
"Of course, this scandal is very serious for Starmer — it's a question of the stability and existence of the government," expert Sergei Shein told Izvestia. — Such situations cause sharp criticism in public opinion, and the opposition has new arguments. Since no one likes the Labor Party anyway and their ratings are not very good, this, of course, creates additional risks for Starmer. In such scandals, third parties and "informal" politicians usually get extra points.
It is Farage who acts as such a player in the case of Great Britain, Starmer promised to prevent him from coming to power at a closed-door meeting of the Labor Party. The leader of Reform UK, by the way, commented on the situation around the prime minister, calling the political scandal "the largest in the last hundred years." According to him, Starmer was warned about Mandelson's figure because "everyone knew that this guy was a scoundrel."
At the same time, the prime minister is still in office due to the temporary consolidation of the cabinet, but there is a reassessment of leadership within the party and a discussion of leadership change scenarios, according to media reports. According to Shein, Keir Starmer is likely to retain the leadership of the Labor Party until the May local elections, after which the question of a new leader and head of government will arise.
Keir Starmer
At the same time, when the inner-party elite unites against Starmer, he will have to resign, Okhoshin explained. In the case of such consolidation, he will have few chances to remain in the chair until the end of his term.
The Epstein scandal has swept Europe
Another round of scandal began after the appearance of a fresh batch of "Epstein files", published by the US Department of Justice on January 30, 2026. The upload of over 3 million pages has shed light on the details of former Ambassador Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. It turned out that back in 2008, Mandelson had sent the financier a confidential government memo from Prime Minister Gordon Brown's adviser, which discussed the sale of "non-strategic assets" to reduce the national debt. Epstein responded by specifying which assets could be sold.
Recall, the financier was associated with the creation of a large-scale system of recruitment and exploitation of minors. In 2019, he was charged with federal charges of human trafficking and criminal conspiracy, but Epstein died in custody without waiting for the trial to begin. The situation is particularly acute due to the fact that Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 in a case involving a minor in prostitution, at which time he faced up to 18 months in prison. According to the new "files", Mandelson not only knew about the financier's problems, but also openly sympathized with him.
In the correspondence, the diplomat called the financier "my best pal" and, according to media reports, could receive donations from him in the amount of up to $ 75 thousand. Mandelson advised Epstein to "fight" for the most lenient sentence and seek early release. It was this circumstance that became a key reason for criticism in the UK: the ex-ambassador is blamed not for the fact of acquaintance itself, but for showing loyalty and support to a person who at that time had already been publicly compromised and officially convicted of a serious crime.
In parallel with the government crisis, a new blow fell on the British monarchy. Correspondence got into the press, from which it follows that a member of the royal family, appearing in the materials as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, could send confidential trade reports to Jeffrey Epstein. This happened in 2010-2011, when the Prince served as the UK's special representative for trade.
At the moment, the police are evaluating the information received. In turn, Buckingham Palace declared its readiness to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in the event of an official request, and the media reported "deep concern" on the part of the king. The situation is complicated by information about the statement of the new alleged victim.
Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
The woman claims that Epstein arranged for her to come to the UK specifically to contact Andrew. However, the most high-profile episode in this story remains the civil lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre in the United States. She claimed that as a teenager she became a victim of sexual exploitation in the network of Epstein and his accomplice Gilane Maxwell, after which she was allegedly "handed over" to Prince Andrew. One of the proofs is a photo from 2001, where he stands next to Giuffre. The member of the royal family himself categorically denied all charges, and in 2022 the case was settled out of court without an official admission of guilt.
In other countries, elites have also begun to be persecuted because of their relationship with Epstein - in some cases it is more about financial crimes, in others it is about suspicions of sexual violence. In France, the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) has launched a preliminary investigation against former Culture Minister Jacques Lang and his daughter on suspicion of income laundering and tax fraud. The reason was the materials in which their financial contacts with Epstein appear, against which background Lang has already left the post of head of the Institute of the Arab World.
A similar situation has developed in Norway, where the financial police have opened cases against former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland, as well as diplomat Mona Juul and her husband Terje Roed-Larsen on suspicion of corruption. The reason is still the same — the published "Epstein files".
A high-profile episode also occurred in the Slovak government, where Miroslav Lajcak, the Prime minister's national security adviser, resigned immediately after the publication of his letters to Epstein. According to media reports, they were discussing young women. Lajcak said it was an "informal, frivolous" correspondence "with no real content." Separately, it became known that in 2018, Epstein invited Lajcak to dinner and meetings.
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