In a newly released letter, Peter Mandelson told David Lammy he would “never regret” making him ambassador to the US. While this ended up being catastrophically incorrect, Mandelson did at least get it right when he predicted the role would be “the last thing I do in public life”.
Mandelson: Petering out
As you can see, Mandelson’s handwriting is somewhat difficult to decipher:
As far as we can tell, this is what Mandelson wrote (emphasis added):
Dear David,
As today (and all week) is polling day in Oxford and I am returning to London, I wanted to drop you a line, privately, about Washington.
Thankfully, the media speculation has gone away and I hope this was not too irritating to you. I just wanted you to know that if you were minded to appoint me I would make sure you never regret it.
They’re calling it the least true statement of all time.
The disgraced Epstein associate continued:
I fear that navigating Britain’s interests through the Trump administration will require super-human skills and luck and a massive team effort.
Was there a superhero whose special ability was being best friends with Jeffrey Epstein? If there was, no doubt they based him on Peter Mandelson.
Mandelson continued:
There is so much riding on it, on security and defence, on trade and economy and on EU relationships, not to mention China. If we all put our best minds and energy to it, I think we can pull it off but we have to be realistic.
Oh yes, we have to make “realistic” decisions – decisions like hiring a twice-disgraced politician to be our ambassador to the US, and expecting no controversy to result from that.
To be fair to old Peter, he did get this next bit spot on:
For me, it would be the last thing I do in public life.
If the police do their job, this could be the truest words ever spoken.
He finished:
it would be a huge honour to serve you and the government in this role. So if you are up for it, so am I.
Very best,
Peter
We think he wrote “huge honour”, but it would be more accurate if his squiggly handwriting actually reads “huge horror”.
Warning signs
As we reported on 8 February, Lammy claims he ‘warned’ Keir Starmer not to appoint Peter Mandelson:
That’s odd because here is David Lammy describing Peter Mandelson as a “man of considerable expertise” and the “right man” to be the US ambassador.
Looks like he is trying to save his own skin. https://t.co/V1vIlscNws pic.twitter.com/Ve8AoJLdMX
— Chris Rose (@ArchRose90) February 7, 2026
With far more letters set for release, we’ll soon find out if this story holds up.
Featured image via Anna Moneymayker (Getty Images) / WPA Pool (Getty Images)
By Willem Moore
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