Lord Peter Mandelson has been stripped of his post as the High Steward of Hull. The former MP was removed as the UK’s ambassador to the United States after emails and other correspondence with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were revealed.
Councillors at Hull City Council have today passed an emergency motion which has stripped the key New Labour figure of the role he had held since 2013. The motion states that the role will remain vacant until a successor is elected.
The Liberal Democrat leader of the council, Cllr Mike Ross, said he was “shocked” by what emerged in the news surrounding Lord Mandelson. He added: “If he’s not fit to serve the country as ambassador, for me he should not be fit enough to serve the city in that role either.”
Cllr Ross thanked opposition councillors of their support in “reaching agreement on the issue so quickly”. Cllr Ross stated the collaboration between political groups “underlines that there is the sense of outrage at what has come to light”.
The leader of the Labour Group on the council, Cllr Daren Hale, said the authority had “absolutely no alternative” but to bring the motion to the chamber. He explained that the original appointment of Lord Mandelson to the role was “a way of seeking to get additional traction and focus on Hull, which for too many years and decades had been forgotten and overlooked”.
The position of High Steward dates back to 1853 but was ended in 1974 until Lord Mandelson was given the role in 2013. Lord Mandelson’s grandfather, Herbert Morrison, also held the role.
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, who picked the Labour grandee to be the UK’s representative in Washington, made the decision to sack him after emails showed the peer sent supportive messages to Epstein even as Epstein faced jail for sex offences. The Foreign Office said the emails showed “the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment”.
The Prime Minister found the emails “reprehensible”, Downing Street has said. James Roscoe will be the interim ambassador to the US and has taken over with immediate effect, the Government also confirmed.
By: Andrew Spence, LDRS
