Mandelson vetting scandal: why Whitehall is the worst of all worlds when it comes to accountability

By Nathan Critch, Research Associate, Department of Politics, University of Manchester
Darcy Luke, Research Associate, Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh

Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US keeps coming back to haunt him. It has now emerged that Mandelson was granted security clearance by the Foreign Office, despite concerns raised during the vetting process. Top Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins was sacked over these revelations.

Mandelson was controversial long before Starmer appointed him in 2024. A New Labour figure known as the “prince…

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