UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing swelling scrutiny over his former US ambassador’s close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer said Thursday that he didn’t know “the depth and darkness” of Peter Mandelson’s ties to the sex offender; Mandelson quit the House of Lords over the revelations, and is now being investigated by UK police.
This is the “deepest crisis to engulf [Starmer’s] premiership,” said an expert at Eurasia Group, which put the possibility of Starmer’s removal by the end of 2026 at 80%. The pound fell nearly 1% against the dollar on Thursday.
Electorates are “less tolerant of hypocrisy than of sex scandals or corruption,” The Economist wrote, meaning repercussions “over the Epstein affair will not be evenly distributed.”