Newly released documents reveal that Peter Mandelson, as president of his advisory firm Global Counsel, lobbied hard for ministers to attend his events and meet his staff in the months following Labour's general election victory in 2024. Emails and WhatsApp messages show how active the Labour peer was in leveraging his government contacts to the potential advantage of both his company and his campaign to become chancellor of Oxford University.
Early outreach to Treasury minister
Just days after the 2024 general election, Mandelson sent a WhatsApp message to Spencer Livermore, the financial secretary to the Treasury, requesting lunch. Livermore, a former director of political strategy in Downing Street under Gordon Brown, accepted. Mandelson suggested the meeting be held "away from HMT [the Treasury]", and the exchange indicates that a Global Counsel employee was also to be invited.
Contact with science minister
A few days later, Mandelson emailed Patrick Vallance, the new science minister, after apparently seeing him the previous evening. In an email from his Global Counsel address titled "Economic change", Mandelson shared reflections on his own time as a minister. Two months later, he invited Vallance to a panel event on research and innovation in Oxford, which he intended to hold in late October or early November. Although Mandelson was running for chancellor of Oxford at the time, he told Vallance it was not a "campaign event as such" but rather an attempt to stimulate interest. Vallance responded by suggesting the event be held after the election of the new chancellor to avoid being seen as part of that process.
Introduction to trade minister
On 22 July, Mandelson emailed the new trade minister, Douglas Alexander, introducing him to a Global Counsel employee, following a meeting between Mandelson and Alexander the previous day. Mandelson wrote, "As Douglas is now going to try and push trade policy up hill on behalf of our great nation, I really think you two should meet and talk asap." Alexander responded positively, and a WhatsApp exchange confirmed the meeting took place. Alexander later described the conversation as "the single most enlightening conversation I've had in the last month on trade", to which Mandelson replied, "Happy to help further." In October 2024, Mandelson also emailed Alexander a lecture on a "High investment economy".
Engagement with industry minister
In September 2024, Mandelson emailed Sarah Jones, an industry minister, from his Global Counsel account, asking her to confirm attendance at a roundtable on the government's "clean energy mission". He wrote, "I am keen to bring together a group of interesting and, hopefully, lively people to discuss this opportunity and challenge." The minister did not immediately respond, prompting a Global Counsel senior associate to send four follow-up emails, stating that "Lord Mandelson has asked me to follow up" and inquiring whether she had considered the invitation.
Context and rules
The files are part of a vast data trove that MPs voted to release in February, relating to Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador, including texts with ministers and senior officials. Members of the House of Lords can have financial interests in organisations involved in parliamentary lobbying but are prohibited from offering parliamentary advice or services to clients. Global Counsel, whose clients have reportedly included TikTok, Palantir, Shell, and Anglo American, was founded by Mandelson and his former aide Benjamin Wegg-Prosser in 2010. Mandelson resigned as a director in May 2024 but remained president until January 2025, when he took up his short-lived role as UK ambassador in Washington. The company went into administration in February following disclosures about Mandelson's friendship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
