- The release of Epstein-related files has triggered a political crisis in the U.K., forcing the resignation of U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson and Starmer’s chief of staff while exposing longstanding instability in Starmer’s inner circle.
- Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch, Labour MPs, senior party figures and major media voices have accused Starmer of knowingly tolerating Mandelson’s post-conviction ties to Epstein and are calling for his resignation.
- Starmer has rejected calls to step down, insisting he will stay in office and focus on affordability, as the fallout simultaneously intensifies scrutiny of the royal family over Prince Andrew’s ties to Epstein.
The Epstein files are wreaking havoc on the United Kingdom.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer was met with calls from within his own party on Monday to resign, after a wave of departures over links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Last Wednesday, the leader of the conservative party, Kemi Badenoch, forced Starmer to admit he was aware his U.S. ambassador, Peter Mandelson, had continued his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein following the financier’s conviction for child sexual abuse in 2008.
Addressing Parliament, Badenoch said Starmer had the information necessary to force Mandelson to resign earlier. “It is shocking what the prime minister has just said. How can he stand up there, saying that he knew — that he just asked Peter Mandelson if the security vetting was true or false.”
Then Badenoch referenced Mandelson’s job history. Since 2001, Mandelson has resigned from positions four times. He was asked to step down from his role as ambassador to the U.S. on Sunday.
The same day of Mandelson’s most recent resignation, Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, resigned as well. When asked why, McSweeney said, “I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice.”
While these resignations happened in rapid succession, it is nothing new for staff to leave Starmer’s office early. In less than two years, the prime minister has lost two chiefs of staff, four communication directors and 11 cabinet ministers.
High profile Brits criticize Starmer, asking him to step down
The leader of Scotland’s Labour Party, Anas Sanwar, called for Starmer to step down on Monday. “The distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change . . . We cannot allow the failures at the heart of Downing Street to continue here in Scotland.”
Peter Lamb, a Labour MP, separately asked Starmer to resign.
“Everyone knows there’s going to be a leadership election come May,” Lamb said. “My view is the prime minister should do the responsible thing now. He should set out a timetable for departure in May that enables the Labour Party to get on with announcing a new leader, that doesn’t risk having a caretaker prime minister with all the uncertainty and chaos attached to that,” per The Sunday Times.
In addition to members of parliament asking their leader to step down, Starmer has been met with calls from the media to do so as well.
In a post that’s been viewed more than 3.7 million times on X, British broadcaster and journalist Piers Morgan told Starmer on Monday, “For the good of the country, resign.”
Starmer vows to stay in office
At an event on Tuesday in Hertfordshire, just north of London, Starmer said, “There are some people in recent days who are saying this Labour government should have a different fight — a fight with itself — instead of a fight for the millions of people who need us to fight for them."
He continued, “And I say to them, I will never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country. I will never walk away from the people that I am charged with fighting for and I will never walk away from the country I love.”
When a journalist told Starmer, “It seems like this political near-death experience has really fired you up,” the prime minister responded, “I’m absolutely clear about what I’m standing for, who I’m standing for and what I’m fighting for. We are in a perilous world internationally, and we have to stand tall on the international stage.”
He added that his cabinet’s central focus will stay on addressing cost of living in the U.K.
Epstein files rattle the royal family
After Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal styles, titles and honors last October, King Charles III released his first statement regarding allegations of Andrew’s sexual misconduct and relationship with Epstein on Monday.
“The King has made clear, in words and through unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said in a statement.
The king added that if the royal family is approached by the Thames Valley Police, they “stand ready to support them.”
“As was previously stated, their majesties’ thoughts and sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse,” it concluded.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been accused of sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre on three occasions when she was younger than 18 years old.