News · 19 April 2026
Starmer would have stopped Mandelson ambassador job
Christian Lambiotte via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
The Prime Minister would not have appointed Peter Mandelson as US ambassador if he had known about his security vetting failure. Ministers confirmed Keir Starmer was unaware of the issue, as the Foreign Office did not disclose vetting concerns. The Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, expressed his astonishment, clarifying that neither he nor his advisors had been informed of the vetting's conclusions.
Reported by BBC · How we write briefs