He might have described himself as a “fighter not a quitter”, however even Peter Mandelson could not survive new and lurid revelations about his relationship with convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
The final word political animal, Lord Mandelson was no stranger to scandal – having twice been pressured to resign from Tony Blair’s cupboard. However introduced again into the Labour fold by Gordon Brown after a profitable stint as European commissioner, the previous spin physician went on to get pleasure from a profession renaissance – which ultimately took him to Washington because the UK’s ambassador to the US.
Was his downfall inevitable? And will Sir Keir Starmer have recognized higher than to entrust one of many UK’s greatest diplomatic roles to a person with a monitor document of self-destruction?