Mandelson, Epstein and pressure on Starmer: What now for Britain's unpopular leader?

LAST UPDATE | 9 hrs ago

PETER MANDELSON CLAIMED last year that he didn’t know about “the sexual side” of Jeffrey Epstein’s life because he, Mandelson, is gay. It will be fascinating to see what excuse he gives for allegedly sharing government papers with Epstein during the financial crash. Something like: I didn’t know leaking market-sensitive information was wrong because I am rich?

The scandal speaks to a growing sense that both Keir Starmer and his advisor, Corkman Morgan McSweeney are out of their depth. Even if they didn’t know the extent of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein, it was public knowledge that the man existed inside a moral vacuum.

His nickname was the Prince of Darkness, after all. There isn’t another job on the planet where being likened to Satan would be considered a plus. ‘I’ve hired a new babysitter – they call him the Prince of Darkness. He’s a bit evil, but boy, he gets the job done!’

Headache for Starmer

Even before the Mandelson-Epstein story broke, polling had suggested that Starmer might be the least popular UK Prime Minister ever, which is mad when you consider some of his predecessors. Tony Blair invaded Iraq, Boris Johnson locked everyone up in their homes while he went on a bender at No. 10. Starmer hasn’t done anything so dramatic, but therein lies part of the problem.

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His greatest error in judgement has been underestimating the level of unhappiness in Britain right now. People on the street feel that the UK hasn’t just lost its way but is spiralling towards economic and social oblivion. Argentina upon Thames.

Starmer and his team don’t see things this way. His core belief is that the UK has been badly managed, but isn’t fundamentally broken. With some modest changes, he really thinks that the country can be back on its feet again. Appointing old New Labour hacks like Mandelson epitomises this strategy.

The government has so far been fundamentally unable to solve the nation’s single biggest problem: lack of growth. How does one make the UK rich again without a) another industrial revolution or b) sending the navy overseas to steal the wealth of other countries? No one is quite sure. Here’s one thing the main parties seem to agree on: if we can’t make life better for the native British, we should at least make life as miserable as possible for immigrants.

The problem with Nigel

Starmer has moved to the right on migration in an effort to outflank Nigel Farage and Reform. It’s been another miscalculation. Progressive voters have been turned off, while Farage’s once fringe rhetoric now feels strangely mainstream. After decades as an easy punchline, he’s becoming the man to beat in Westminster. He’s gone from creep to the captain of the high school football team. Never has the triumph of an underdog been such a bummer.

For the avoidance of doubt: Reform UK is still the party of bigoted men who ruin Christmas with their unsolicited ethnic critiques. Their economic calculations read like graffiti scrawled on Wetherspoon’s toilet doors. Worse, their plans for border control are less a vision for the future and more a bleary-eyed look backwards.

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It’s not just American-style mass deportations that they’ve promised. They want to butcher an already threadbare aid budget, hike NHS charges for foreigners and stop all social welfare payments to EU citizens. If Brussels wants a fight over it, then you’d better believe that Farage would relish a fresh Brexit palaver.

There are glimmers of hope. The Greens have been surging ahead in polls, hoovering up support from disillusioned lefties. Their new leader, Zack Polanski, is very good on social media and has been effective in getting attention in a way that the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, has not. People are calling him a socialist Farage. 

A more flattering comparison would be with Zohran Mamdani, the new mayor of New York. His landslide win was a repudiation of MAGA nativism and the listless resistance offered by establishment Democrats. With a positive campaign and punchy messaging, his style is being hailed as a blueprint for leftist parties across Europe.

Like Mamdani, there will be questions about whether Polanski’s appeal will translate beyond urban centres like London. What is increasingly clear, however, is that the public’s patience with Starmer has already expired.

Peter Flanagan is an Irish comedian and writer based in London. 

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