Lord Mandelson’s past friendship with Epstein has long been public knowledge.
However, he was fired from his ambassador role after the government said new information about the “depth” of their relationship had come to light, which was not known when he was appointed last year.
In emails published by Bloomberg in September, Lord Mandelson reportedly told Epstein to “fight for early release”, shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor.
In another email, the day before Epstein began his sentence, Mandelson told him “I think the world of you”.
Lord Mandelson has previously said he never saw any wrongdoing while with Epstein and “fell for his lies”.
A key figure in the New Labour project which saw Tony Blair win the 1997 election, Lord Mandelson has been in and out of British politics for four decades.
He held a number of different ministerial roles in the government until 2010, when Labour lost power.
