British PM Keir Stormer’s boss resigns over ambassador ties to Epstein

British Prime Minister Keir Stormer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, resigned on Sunday (February 8, 2026), taking “full responsibility” for advising Mr Stormer to appoint him. Peter Mandelson as British Ambassador to Washington. Mr. Mandelson was fired in September after the extent of his liaison with sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein became public. A portion of Epstein-related documents released on Jan. 30 revealed more details of the relationship between Epstein and Mr. Mandelson. Mr Mandelson has denied wrongdoing.

“The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged trust in our party, our country and politics itself,” Mr McSweeney wrote. However, he said he did not oversee the due diligence process as he called for an overhaul of that process.

The Mandelson scandal led to calls from Mr Stormer’s opponents for the Prime Minister to resign. It comes as Mr Stormer does poorly in the polls despite leading Labor to a landslide general election victory in July 2024, forcing him to step down under pressure from his party’s MPs. Mr McSweeney was a key aide to Mr Starmer and it is not yet clear how his resignation will affect Mr Starmer’s ability to continue in office.

Following the document-release on January 30, the Metropolitan Police launched a criminal investigation into Mr Mandelson for misconduct in 2009 and 2010 relating to the sharing of market-sensitive documents.

Leader of the opposition and Conservative Party, Chemi Badenoch, said Mr Starmer must take responsibility for “his own appalling decisions”.

Mr Stormer last week apologized to Mr Epstein’s victims for believing Mr Mandelson’s “lies”, saying they did not know the “depth and darkness” of Mr Mandelson’s relationship with Mr Epstein.