Mandelson should ‘never have been appointed’, Cooper says

Nina Lloyd, Press Association Political Correspondent in Beijing, and Sophie Wingate

Lord Peter Mandelson should “never have been appointed” as ambassador to the US, Yvette Cooper has said as she declined to say whether Sir Keir Starmer is a strong and effective leader.

The Foreign Secretary described the disclosure of messages over Lord Mandelson’s appointment as an “unedifying process”, a day after the Government released a second tranche of more than 1,000 pages of documents.

Some of the messages proved embarrassing for ministers, including for Sir Keir whom Lord Mandelson described as “consistently going for direction B”.

Asked about the disgraced peer’s portrayal of the Prime Minister’s working cycle as “advance/buckle/advance/buckle”, Ms Cooper told reporters during a trip to Beijing: “What I would say is that Peter Mandelson should never have been appointed as ambassador to the United States, and look, of course there’s been a lot of transparency now about messages being released.

“That’s always an unedifying process but right to be transparent. We mustn’t forget two things, first is that in the end this whole thing started about Epstein’s abuse of young women and girls, and sometimes the conversation gets pulled away from that, and secondly, I think the whole Government is getting on with the most important issues that affect our country, and that’s exactly why I’m here in China having these important discussions about international security.”

The Foreign Secretary evaded a question on whether she could describe the Prime Minister as a strong and effective leader.

She replied: “I’m in China pursuing issues around international security which follows on from the Prime Minister’s visit here to China with President Xi earlier this year.”

Sir Keir sacked Lord Mandelson in September 2025 after leaked emails which showed the peer sent supportive messages even as Jeffrey Epstein faced jail for sex offences.

MPs voted earlier this year to force the disclosure of documents relating to his time as ambassador.

The Prime Minister chaired a meeting of his Cabinet on Tuesday morning after the latest document dump laid bare splits within Labour.

Monday’s release included records of WhatsApp exchanges between Lord Mandelson and Cabinet minister Pat McFadden that revealed the latter’s frustration with his colleagues.

In May 2025, in the wake of local election setbacks and the Runcorn by-election defeat, Mr McFadden said: “Lot of manoeuvring here this week. Angela (Rayner), Gordon (Brown). Doesn’t feel good for Keir.”

He also complained that Labour MPs were “asking the wrong questions”.

“Every meeting I have is ‘who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others’,” said Mr McFadden, who became the Work and Pensions Secretary, responsible for the welfare system, in September 2025.

Lord Mandelson was highly critical of Sir Keir’s operation in messages, saying the Prime Minister “lacks verve” and that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could not explain where economic growth would come from.

MPs will have the opportunity to debate the second tranche of files on Wednesday.