LONDON (AP) 鈥� fights another day.
After indirect fallout from the files sparked a dramatic day of crisis that threatened to topple him, the U.K. prime minister was saved by a pugnacious fightback and hesitation among inside the governing Labour Party about the consequences of a .
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said Tuesday that Labour lawmakers had 鈥渓ooked over the precipice 鈥� and they didn鈥檛 like what they saw.鈥�
鈥淎nd they thought the right thing was to unite behind Keir,鈥� Miliband told the BBC.
He might have added: For now.
Mandelson blowback
Starmer鈥檚 authority over his center-left party has been battered from the publication of files related to Epstein 鈥� a man he never met and whose sexual misconduct hasn’t implicated him.
But it was Starmer’s decision to appoint veteran Labour politician , a friend of Epstein, as U.K. ambassador to Washington in 2024 that has led many to question the leader’s judgment and call for his resignation.
Starmer has apologized, saying Mandelson had lied about the extent of his ties to the convicted sex offender. And he vowed to fight for his job.
鈥淚 will never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country,鈥� Starmer said Tuesday as he visited a community center in southern England. 鈥淚 will never walk away from the people that I鈥檓 charged with fighting for and I will never walk away from the country that I love.鈥�
Starmer鈥檚 risky decision to appoint Mandelson 鈥� who brought extensive contacts and trade expertise but a history of questionable ethical judgment 鈥� backfired when emails were published in September showing that Mandelson had maintained a friendship with Epstein after the financier鈥檚 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor.
Starmer , but a new released last month by the U.S. government contained more revelations. Mandelson is now facing a for potential misconduct in public office over documents suggesting that he passed sensitive government information to Epstein. He’s not accused of any sexual offenses.
Simmering discontent
The Mandelson scandal may be the final straw that finishes Starmer鈥檚 premiership. But it follows discontent that has built since he led Labour to a 19 months ago.
Some of Starmer鈥檚 problems stem from a turbulent world and a gloomy economic backdrop. He has won praise for and persuading U.S. President Donald Trump to sign a easing tariffs on U.K. goods. But at home, he has struggled to bring down inflation, boost economic growth and ease the cost of living.
Despite a huge parliamentary majority that should allow the government to implement its plans with ease, Starmer has been forced to make multiple U-turns on contentious policies including welfare cuts and mandatory digital ID cards.
Starmer has been through two chiefs of staff, four directors of communications and multiple lower-level staff changes in Downing Street. The prime minister鈥檚 powerful chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, resigned Sunday over the decision to appoint Mandelson. Communications director Tim Allan left the next day.
Allan’s predecessor, Matthew Doyle, has since been appointed by Starmer to the House of Lords, but said Tuesday he would not be sitting as a Labour member over his association with Sean Morton, a former Labour councilor who was convicted in 2017 of possessing indecent images of children. Doyle condemned Morton’s crimes and apologized for campaigning for him in an election before his conviction, saying that was 鈥渁 clear error of judgment for which I apologize unreservedly.鈥� He said he had believed Morton’s claim of innocence at the time.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar held a news conference on Monday and called for Starmer to resign. If other senior party figures had followed, the pressure would have been impossible for Starmer to resist.
But none did. Instead, Starmer鈥檚 Cabinet and parliamentary colleagues posted apparently choreographed messages of support. They included former Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary , considered the two most likely challengers for the top job.
Then, came a highly charged meeting with Labour members of Parliament, where Starmer impressed many with his sense of resolve. Lawmakers in the room said that the mood, initially skeptical, became supportive.
鈥淚t was clear he was up for the fight,鈥� said Chris Curtis, one of more than 200 Labour lawmakers elected in the 2024 Starmer landslide.
Temporary reprieve
Starmer appears to have more political lives than , who has outlasted five prime ministers during 15 years as 鈥渃hief mouser鈥� in Downing Street.
But his respite is likely to be temporary. Many Labour lawmakers remain worried about their reelection chances if the party鈥檚 dire opinion poll ratings don鈥檛 improve.
Some female party members feel particularly disappointed by Mandelson鈥檚 appointment. The Labour leader of Wales, First Minister Eluned Morgan, called revelations about Mandelson 鈥渄eeply troubling, not least because, once again, the voices of women and girls were ignored.
鈥淭hat failure must be acknowledged and confronted honestly,鈥� she said, while offering support for Starmer.
Labour faces potential electoral setbacks at a Feb. 26 special election in what was once a party stronghold in northwest England, and in May鈥檚 elections for legislatures in Scotland and Wales and local councils in England.
And rivals are still plotting. The Guardian reported that an 鈥淎ngela for leader鈥� website backing Rayner briefly went live last month by accident. Streeting, whose genial relationship with Mandelson is now a weakness, released messages he鈥檇 exchanged with Mandelson before and after the ambassadorial appointment, seemingly in an attempt to show the men weren’t close friends.
The exchanges include implicit criticism of Starmer, with Streeting writing that the government had 鈥淣o growth strategy at all.鈥�
Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said that Starmer had 鈥渂ought himself some time鈥� and challengers were 鈥渒eeping their powder dry鈥� for the moment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to imagine after the shellacking that the party will presumably face in May, him continuing to lead the party much beyond this summer,鈥� Bale said.
Though in British politics, nothing is impossible.
鈥淭here are problems with the other candidates,” Bale said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 never an ideal situation for any party to be choosing a prime minister in midterm, and it may be that the Labour Party decides, better the devil you know. I suspect that Keir Starmer will go, but who knows?鈥�
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