Peter Mandelson

Peter Mandelson was born in Hendon, Middlesex,[7] on 21 October 1953,[4] the son of Mary Joyce (née Morrison) and George Norman Mandelson.[8] His father's family were Jewish; his grandfather had founded the Harrow United Synagogue. His father (known as Tony) was the advertising manager of The Jewish Chronicle[9] who was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Dragoons in the Second World War.[10] On his mother's side, Mandelson is a grandson of Herbert Morrison,[11] the London County Council Leader and Labour Cabinet Minister in the Attlee ministry.[11]

Mandelson was raised in Hampstead Garden Suburb. He says of his childhood – "my whole upbringing was framed around the Suburb – my friendships and values".[12]

Mandelson attended Garden Suburb School,[10] and between 1965 and 1972, Hendon County Grammar School.[4] In 1966 he appeared on stage with the local amateur theatre group, the Hampstead Garden Suburb Dramatic Society, as the eponymous lead in The Winslow Boy.[13]

During his teenage years he joined the Young Communist League due to the UK's support of the U.S. role in the Vietnam War. He attended St Catherine's College, Oxford.[4]

In 1985, the Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock appointed him as the party's Director of Communications. As Director, he was one of the first people in Britain to whom the term "spin doctor" was applied; he was thus called "the Prince of Darkness".[17][18]

In 1986 Mandelson ran the campaign at the Fulham by-election in which Labour defeated the Conservative Party.[19] For the 1987 election campaign, Mandelson commissioned film director Hugh Hudson, whose Chariots of Fire (1981) had won an Oscar as Best Picture, to make a party political broadcast promoting Neil Kinnock as a potential prime minister. Tagged "Kinnock – the Movie", it led to the party leader's approval rating being raised by 16%[20] or 19% in polls[21] and was even repeated in another PPB slot.[20] The election, held on 11 June 1987, returned Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives for the third time, although Labour gained 20 seats,[22] and, this time, convincingly pushed the SDP-Liberal Alliance into third place. Opponents termed the Labour Party's election campaign "a brilliantly successful election defeat".[21]

He ceased being a Labour Party official in 1990 when he was selected as Labour candidate for the constituency of Hartlepool, which was then considered a safe seat.

Mandelson was first elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general election,[23] and made several speeches outlining his strong support for the European Union. Although sidelined during the brief period when John Smith led the party, Mandelson was by now close to two Shadow Cabinet members – Gordon Brown and Tony Blair – each regarded as potential future leaders of the party.

Following Smith's sudden death on 12 May 1994, Mandelson chose to back Blair for the leadership, believing him to be a superior communicator to Brown[24] and played a leading role in the leadership campaign. This created antagonism between Mandelson and Brown, though they were considered allies in the Labour Party.[25] In 1994 Kate Garvey suggested that Mandelson (who was at the time being derided by the trade unions and other Labour factions), should adopt a "nom de guerre" throughout Blair's leadership bid, so that he might conceal his considerable role within the campaign team. Mandelson agreed to be called "Bobby" for the duration and was thanked by Blair using this name in his victory speech.[26][27]

After becoming a close ally and trusted adviser to Tony Blair, Mandelson was Labour's election campaign director for the 1997 general election, which Labour won decisively.[28]

He was appointed as a Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office, where his job was to co-ordinate within government. A few months later, he also acquired responsibility for the Millennium Dome, after Blair decided to go ahead with the project despite the opposition of most of the cabinet (including the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who had been running it). Jennie Page, the Dome project's chief executive, was abruptly sacked after a farcical opening night.[29] She gave evidence to a House of Commons Select Committee for Culture and Heritage in June 2000. In what was seen as a reference to the close interest in the Dome from Mandelson, known at the time as so-called "Dome Secretary" and his successor Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Page told the committee: "I made several attempts to persuade ministers that standing back from the Dome would be good for them as well as good for the Dome".[30]

In July 1998 he was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; he launched the Millennium Bug And Electronic Commerce Bill and a Competitiveness White paper, which he described, as 'bold, far reaching and absolutely necessary'. He also appointed a "Net Tsar" to lead the UK in what he termed the "new industrial revolution". In 1998 he was appointed a Privy Counsellor.

Mandelson bought a home in Notting Hill in 1996 partly with an interest-free loan of £373,000 from Geoffrey Robinson, a cabinet colleague and millionaire whose business dealings were subject to an inquiry by Mandelson's department.[31] Mandelson contended that he had deliberately not taken part in any decisions relating to Robinson. However, he had not declared the loan in the Register of Members' Interests and resigned in December 1998.[31] Mandelson had also not declared the loan to his building society (the Britannia) although they decided not to take any action, with the CEO stating "I am satisfied that the information given to us at the time of the mortgage application was accurate."[32] Mandelson initially thought he could weather the press storm, but had to resign when it became clear that the Prime Minister thought nothing else would clear the air.[33]

In October 2000 it was reported that Robinson had "accused Peter Mandelson of lying to the Commons about the home loan affair that cost both of them their government jobs."[34][35]

He was out of the Cabinet for ten months. In October 1999 he was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, replacing Mo Mowlam. In his very first speech in the post he mistakenly referred to himself as the "Secretary of State for Ireland".[36] During his tenure he oversaw the creation of the devolved legislative assembly and power-sharing executive and reform of the police service.

On 24 January 2001, Mandelson resigned from the Government for a second time, following accusations of using his position to influence a passport application.[37][38]

He had contacted Home Office Minister Mike O'Brien on behalf of Srichand Hinduja, an Indian businessman who was seeking British citizenship and whose family firm was to become the main sponsor of the "Faith Zone" in the Millennium Dome. At the time Hinduja and his brothers were under investigation by the Indian government for alleged involvement in the Bofors scandal.

Mandelson insisted he had done nothing wrong and was exonerated by an independent inquiry by Sir Anthony Hammond, which concluded that neither Mandelson nor anyone else had acted improperly.

At the 2001 general election Mandelson was challenged by Arthur Scargill of the Socialist Labour Party and by John Booth, a former Labour Party press officer standing as "Genuine Labour",[39] but Mandelson was re-elected with a large majority.[40] In his victory speech, Mandelson said: "It was said that I was facing political oblivion ... Well, they underestimated Hartlepool and they underestimated me because I am a fighter and not a quitter."[41]

Despite Labour success in the June 2001 general election, a third Cabinet appointment did not materialise and he indicated his interest in becoming the United Kingdom's European Commissioner when the new Commission was established in 2004. Both of Britain's Commissioners, Neil Kinnock and Chris Patten, were due to stand down. Appointment as a European Commissioner would require his resignation from Parliament precipitating a by-election in his Hartlepool constituency. His appointment was announced in the summer and on 8 September 2004 Mandelson resigned his seat by submitting his name as Steward of the Manor of Northstead.[42][43] Labour won the subsequent Hartlepool by-election with a much-reduced majority of 2,033 votes (equating to 40.7% of the vote).[44] He was succeeded as MP for Hartlepool by Iain Wright.

On 22 November 2004 Mandelson became Britain's European Commissioner, taking the trade portfolio.

In October 2008 he left his post as Trade Commissioner to return to UK politics. As a former EU Commissioner, Mandelson was entitled to a £31,000 pension upon reaching the age of 65 years. It was claimed by Christopher Hope of The Daily Telegraph in 2009 that Mandelson's pension was contingent on a "duty of loyalty to the Communities", which also applied after his term in office.[45] The TaxPayers' Alliance, which was reported to have uncovered the threat to his pension, demanded that he should declare the conflict of interest and either relinquish his EU pay cheques or resign as a minister. "When one considers that his new ministerial post deals specifically with business, enterprise and regulatory reform – all areas that are intimately involved with EU legislation, regulation and policy –" the group said, "the conflict of interest is even more stark." Mandelson did not agree that he had a conflict of interests. "He has always had a clear view of British interests and how they are secured by our EU membership," a spokesperson said.[45]

The website Full Fact reported in 2019 that the claim was untrue, stating that while there are rules governing the conduct of current and former EU staff members, which can lead to pensions sanctions, the European Commission had informed them that it would be "probably impossible" for such people to lose their pension for criticising the EU or supporting Brexit. Full Fact also pointed out that there had been multiple cases of both current and ex-commissioners criticising the EU – in April 2019, German former Commissioner Günter Verheugen criticised the EU's Brexit negotiating position, saying "the problem is on the EU side", while in 2017 British former Commissioner Lord Hill had supported "getting on" with Brexit.[46]

Mandelson (left) with Gordon Brown at the Progressive Governance Conference, February 2010.

On 3 October 2008, as part of Gordon Brown's Cabinet reshuffle, it was announced amid some controversy[47][48] that Mandelson would return to Government in the re-designated post of Business Secretary and would be raised to the peerage,[49] thus becoming a member of the House of Lords.[50][51] On 13 October 2008 he was created Baron Mandelson, of Foy in the County of Herefordshire and of Hartlepool in the County of Durham,[52] and was introduced in the House of Lords the same day.[53]

Following his return to office, Mandelson supported the planned Heathrow expansion.[54] On 6 March 2009, environmental protester Leila Deen of anti-aviation group Plane Stupid approached him outside a summit on the government's low carbon industrial strategy and threw a cup of green custard in his face in protest over his support for a third runway at Heathrow Airport. The protester was cautioned on 9 April for causing "harassment, alarm or distress".[55][56]

In a Cabinet reshuffle on 5 June 2009 Mandelson was granted the honorific title of First Secretary of State and appointed Lord President of the Council;[57] it was also announced that the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills would be merged into his, giving him the new title of Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and that he would continue as President of the Board of Trade.[57][58]

Mandelson was a member of 35 of the 43 Cabinet committees and subcommittees.[59]

In August 2009 Mandelson was widely reported to have ordered "technical measures" such as internet disconnection to be included in the draft of the Digital Economy Act 2010 after a "big lobbying operation", even though the Digital Britain report had rejected this type of punishment.[60] The Independent reported that according to their Whitehall sources, Mandelson was persuaded that tough laws were needed to reduce online copyright infringement following an intensive lobbying campaign by influential people in the music and film industry.[61] The paper also reported that this included a meeting with DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen at the Rothschild family villa on the Greek island of Corfu. Mandelson's spokesperson claimed that there had been no discussion of internet piracy during the Corfu dinner and suggested that the decision to reverse Lord Carter's findings had been taken in late July before the trip. The Times reported after the Corfu meeting that an unnamed Whitehall source had confirmed that before this trip, Mandelson had shown little personal interest in the Digital Britain agenda, which has been ongoing for several years. According to the source of The Times, Mandelson returned from holiday and effectively issued an edict that the regulation needed to be tougher.[62]

In August 2011 a Freedom of Information (FOI) request showed that Mandelson had decided to approve the inclusion of technical measures, such as the disconnection of internet access, at least two months before public consultation had finished and that he had shown little interest in the consultation. Letters from Mandelson's office document talks with Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group, on 2 June 2009 and that on the following day Mandelson advised Lord Carter about the "possibility of [the Secretary of State] having a power to direct Ofcom to go directly to introduce technical measures". Mandelson made the formal announcement that technical measures, including disconnection, were to be included in the Digital Economy Bill two months later on 7 August 2009.[63]

An opinion poll conducted by the centre-left think tank Compass found in March 2009 that Mandelson was less disliked by party members than Deputy Leader Harriet Harman. This was felt to be unusual as Mandelson "historically has been unpopular among Labour members".[64] Tony Blair's assertion in 1996 that "my project will be complete when the Labour Party learns to love Peter Mandelson"[65] was seen as prophetic in late September 2009 when Mandelson was enthusiastically received at the party conference in Brighton.[66]

After the 2015 Labour leadership election resulted in Jeremy Corbyn becoming the party leader, Mandelson stated that he believed that Labour was now unelectable, but advised party members unhappy with the situation to wait for Corbyn to demonstrate this before working to replace him.[82] He wished for an early general election to force Corbyn out.[83] In February 2017, he said Corbyn had "no idea in the 21st century how to conduct himself as a leader of a party putting itself forward in a democratic election" and "I work every single day to bring forward the end of [Corbyn's] tenure in office".[84]

After the results of the 2017 general election became known, Mandelson conceded that Corbyn's election campaign was "very sure footed" and the result, in which Labour gained seats and denied the Conservatives a majority, unexpected.[85] "I was wrong" about Corbyn, he told BBC News. "I am very surprised, an earthquake has happened in British politics and I did not foresee it", although he doubted Corbyn's ability to gain a Commons majority.[86] Two years later, in the 2019 general election, Labour suffered their worst defeat since the 1930s.[87] Mandelson described the result as "not undeserved", arguing that Corbyn's leadership was one of the main reasons for Labour's defeat.[88]

During the 2016 EU referendum, Mandelson sat on the board on Britain Stronger in Europe, the official "Remain" campaign. The campaign was unsuccessful.[89]

Following the referendum, Mandelson was an outspoken supporter of a second referendum.[90]

After Roberto Azevêdo announced he would step down as Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in September 2020, Mandelson declared his interest in running to succeed him. He proceeded to lobby governments around the world for the job,[91] arguing that the WTO had "reached a fork in the road" and had to be "picked up and put back on its feet".[92] Mandelson was overlooked in favour of the Conservative Liam Fox due to his opposition to Brexit.[93] His candidacy ended when Fox beat him to win the nomination of the UK government.[94]

In 2021 it was reported that Mandelson had been advising Labour leader Keir Starmer on moving the party beyond Corbyn's leadership and broadening its electoral appeal.[95]

Mandelson is gay and he is said to be 'intensely private' about his personal life.[114] During his time as a former government leader, the press – tabloid and broadsheet alike – often portrayed Mandelson as effeminate through "the linguistic resources of camp" and narcissistic – sometimes including coded references to homosexual acts in their descriptions of his actions.[115]

He has lived with his partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva, a Brazilian translator, since March 1998.[116]

While his sexual orientation was known to friends, colleagues and constituents, in 1987 the News of the World ran an issue that attempted to out Mandelson as gay.[114] Mandelson preferred to keep his personal life private and as such did not respond.[117] Mandelson was outed again by Matthew Parris in 1998 on the BBC programme Newsnight.[118] This led to press harassment of his partner, with the Daily Express sending a reporter to take pictures of him while he was at his languages course.[114]

An internal investigation later found that the photos had been obtained without Avila da Silva's consent and images of him attempting to cover his face had been secretly deleted. Mandelson phoned the BBC and the Press Complaints Commission following Newsnight's broadcast,[119] and an internal memo was later sent within the BBC, stating that "Under no circumstances whatsoever should allegations about the private life of Peter Mandelson be repeated or referred to on any broadcast."[118]

• Mandelson, Peter (1997): Labour's next steps Fabian Society
• Mandelson, Peter (2002): The Blair Revolution Revisited Politico's, ISBN 1-84275-039-9
• Mandelson, Peter (2010). The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour. HarperPress. ISBN 978-0007395286.