On Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, plainclothes officers from London’s Metropolitan Police led Peter Mandelson, 72, out of his home in north London around dusk. He wasn’t handcuffed. He was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, police searched two addresses linked to him, and he was released on bail early the next morning.

The investigation centers on whether Mandelson passed confidential government information to Jeffrey Epstein while serving as business secretary under Gordon Brown from 2008 to 2010. Emails in the U.S. Justice Department’s Epstein release appear to show him sharing details of Brown’s response to the financial crisis, discussion of a tax on bankers’ bonuses, and news of a eurozone bailout a day before it was announced. Some of the emails were sent after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor.

It was the latest fall for one of the most powerful figures in modern Labour politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had fired him as ambassador to the United States in September 2025 over his Epstein ties. He resigned from the House of Lords in early February, though he keeps the title of Lord Mandelson, and the government is drafting legislation to strip his peerage. Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch called the arrest the defining moment of Starmer’s premiership.

Mandelson has not commented on the specific allegations and has not been charged. He has not been accused of sexual misconduct.