Former UK ambassador to the US, Lord Mandelson, has been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the Metropolitan Police has said.

 

Police said he was released pending further investigation following his arrest on Monday. Lord Mandelson was arrested at an address in Camden, North London, and taken to a police station for an interview. He was later seen returning to his London home.

 

The Metropolitan Police said the arrest followed an investigation launched earlier this month into allegations that, while serving as a government minister, Lord Mandelson passed on market-sensitive government information to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

 

Officers executed search warrants at two addresses in Wiltshire and Camden as part of the inquiry. The arrest was carried out by officers from the Met’s central specialist crime division. Consultations between police and the Crown Prosecution Service are ongoing.

 

Lord Mandelson has not commented publicly in recent weeks on the documents linked to Epstein. 

 

He was appointed British ambassador to the United States in February 2025 but was removed from the role in September after Downing Street said new information had emerged about the extent of his relationship with Epstein. 

 

The government has said it expects to release the first documents relating to his appointment in early March.

 

The allegations emerged after the US Department of Justice released a tranche of documents last month, including emails between Lord Mandelson and Epstein. An email from 2009 appears to show Lord Mandelson sharing an assessment by an adviser to then prime minister Gordon Brown about proposed policy measures, including an asset sales plan. Other correspondence appears to show discussion of a tax on bankers’ bonuses and confirmation of a eurozone bailout package a day before it was publicly announced in 2010.

 

The government has said it is continuing discussions with police over which documents linked to Lord Mandelson’s appointment can be published. It has previously indicated that publication is intended to support UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s claim that Lord Mandelson gave inaccurate information during the vetting process.

 

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones told MPs that records of follow-up questions asked during due diligence would not be included in the first tranche because of police interest.

 

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the arrest as “the defining moment” of Keir’s premiership.

 

Lord Mandelson has also been urged by US politicians to answer questions as part of a congressional investigation into Epstein. He began working for the Labour Party in the 1980s and played a senior role during the New Labour period leading up to the party’s 1997 election victory.