Lord Peter Mandelson has resigned from his honorary fellowship at St Catherine’s College. A College spokesperson confirmed Lord Mandelson’s resignation, telling Cherwell he resigned because “he has decided to step back from public life”.
The resignation follows Mandelson’s dismissal as the UK ambassador to the US by Sir Keir Starmer in September, which was triggered by the revelation of supportive emails from Mandelson to Jeffrey Epstein after the latter’s conviction as a sex offender in 2008. Mandelson has said he deeply regrets the friendship.
The 238-page book of birthday messages to Epstein, released by the US congressional panel in September, contained entries from Mandelson. One of the documents is a letter, in which Mandelson called Epstein “my best pal”. The book also includes several photographs of Lord Mandelson and Epstein in various of the latter’s properties.
Acknowledging the news of Mandelson’s resignation, St Catherine’s JCR President told Cherwell: “The JCR feel that certain activities and associations of Lord Mandelson do not align with their values as a student body.”
In September, Manchester Metropolitan University stripped Mandelson of the honours that it gave him, including an honorary doctorate and a commemorative medal, over new information about his ties with Epstein.
Mandelson ran for the position of Chancellor at Oxford University last year, but was knocked out in the first round of preference voting.
During his campaign for Chancellor, Mandelson was questioned about his ties to Epstein. Answering a question at the Oxford Union about whether he knew of the sexual abuse allegations against Epstein, he said: “I’m not, I’m afraid, going to go into further detail about this. I’ve said publicly that I regret meeting him in the first place. Everything that needs to be known about him is now known. There’s nothing further I can add.”
Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier and convicted child sex offender. He was found dead by suicide in 2019 in prison where he was awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
Speaking at the time of Mandelson’s appointment as the UK ambassador to the US and before the birthday book was released, St Catherine’s College Pro-Master Professor Bart van Es said: “We are proud and delighted to hear of Peter’s appointment and know he will do an excellent job in the role. St Catherine’s is lucky to have Lord Mandelson as an Honorary Fellow and hope, in the near future, to host him again for an event in College.”
Peter Mandelson graduated from St Catherine’s in 1976 with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE).
Mandelson was approached for comment.
