Peter Mandelson pushed for Sir Tony Blair to meet ‘young and vibrant’ Jeffrey Epstein in Downing Street, newly-published files show.

A tranche of documents released by the Government on Wednesday includes an email sent by Lord Mandelson in 2002.

In the message to Jonathan Powell, who was Downing Street chief of staff at the time, Lord Mandelson described Epstein as ‘young and vibrant’.

He told Mr Powell that Epstein was a ‘travelling friend’ of Bill Clinton, the former US president, and then-prime minister Sir Tony ‘would like to met him’.

The email was sent by Lord Mandelson to No10 little more than a year after he had resigned from the New Labour government for a second time.

A copy of the email was published on Wednesday as part of an initial batch of papers relating to Lord Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to the US last year.

He was sacked after just seven months in Washington DC following the emergence of further revelations about his friendship with Epstein, a convicted paedophile.

A continuing scandal over Lord Mandelson’s appointment by Sir Keir Starmer has rocked the Prime Minister and forced the publication of details about what he initially knew of the peer’s links to Epstein.

A tranche of documents released by the Government on Wednesday includes an email sent by Lord Mandelson in 2002

A week later, on 14 May 2002, an email to Sir Tony Blair himself advised the then-PM on his meeting with Epstein ‘at 5pm today’

Lord Mandelson was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office, having been accused of passing sensitive information on to Epstein while a government minister

The first tranche of those documents includes the email written by Lord Mandelson to Mr Powell, now Sir Keir’s national security adviser, on 7 May 2002.

‘Do you remember when Clinton saw TB he said he wanted to introduce his travelling friend, Jeffrey Epstein, to TB?,’ he wrote.

‘This was frustrated – TB said at the time – in the office for reasons (he says) he was unclear about.

‘Jeffrey is an active scientific catalyst/entrepreneur as well as someone who has his finger on the pulse of many worldwide markets and currencies.

‘He is young and vibrant. He is safe (whatever that means) and Clinton is now doing a lot of travelling with him.

‘I mentioned to TB that Jeffrey is in London next week and he said he would like to met him.’

A handwritten note on a printout of the email, included in the documents, appears to ask Sir Tony: ‘Do you want to do this?’

A week later, on 14 May 2002, an email to Sir Tony himself advised the then-PM on his meeting with Epstein ‘at 5pm today’.

The email from Matthew Rycroft, who was Sir Tony’s private secretary, offered a ‘background’ on Epstein, who was described as ‘a financial adviser to the super-rich and a property developer’, as well as ‘a friend of Bill Clinton and Peter Mandelson’.

It added that Epstein was ‘very rich’ and ‘close to’ the Duke of York, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

‘He has a $30million home in New York plus a 10,000 acre ranch in New Mexico and a villa in Palm Beach,’ the memo, which was also sent to Mr Powell and Geoffrey Norris, another No10 aide, said.

‘He made his money working for billionaire Leslie Wexner who owns (among many other things) the lingerie firm Victoria’s Secret 

‘He seems to have met Prince Andrew through Robert Maxwell’s daughter Ghislaine with whom he has had an on-off relationship. He visited Sandringham and Windsor last year.

‘Peter says that Epstein now travels with Clinton and (Clinton) wants you to meet him. 

‘Не thinks you would find worthwhile a conversation with him about (a) science and (b) international economic and monetary trends.’

The email was sent by Lord Mandelson to No10 little more than a year after he had resigned from Sir Tony’s New Labour government for a second time

The meeting was six years before Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008

A reference to the email was included in the advice received by Sir Keir in December 2024, when he was considering appointing Lord Mandelson as US ambassador.

The advice stated: ‘The Cabinet Office holds official records that are likely to be released by the National Archives early next year, which relate to a Tony Blair meeting with Epstein that was facilitated by Mandelson.’

The meeting with Sir Tony was six years before Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

A spokesperson for Sir Tony has previously said of his meeting with Epstein: ‘As far as he can remember, Mr Blair met with him for less than 30 minutes in Downing Street in 2002, and discussed US and UK politics.

‘He never met or engaged with him subsequently.’

The spokesperson added: ‘This was, of course, long before his crimes were known of and his subsequent conviction.’

Clinton has acknowledged being a former associate of Epstein but said he had no knowledge of his crimes.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor became the first senior royal in modern history to be arrested after he was held in custody for around 11 hours on his 66th birthday last month.

He was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, following claims he shared sensitive information with Epstein during his time as the UK’s trade envoy.

He has denied any wrongdoing over his Epstein links, but has not directly responded to the latest allegations. 

Lord Mandelson was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office, having been accused of passing sensitive information on to Epstein during his time as business secretary.

He was subsequently bailed, but later released from his bail conditions, although he remains under investigation.

The peer has vowed to cooperate with the police investigation and ‘to clear his name’.

He has denied the Epstein files show he broke any laws or acted for personal gain and repeatedly said he regrets his friendship with Epstein.