𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Peter Mandelson once presented himself as the champion of Hartlepool but now the people of the County Durham town want to distance themselves from the man widely known as Labour’s “prince of darkness”. 

The council last year decided to strip him of the Freedom of the Borough as details of his close relationship with sex predator Jeffrey Epstein became public. And a local charity which once had the New Labour strategist as an honorary president has published a lengthy statement which details how it decided to sever links with the ex-MP.

Reform UK – which finished second at the last election – has high hopes of winning the seat with a senior source describing it as “almost a racing certainty that we win” in this “strong Brexit land” where people are “furious at Starmer”.

Paul Thompson, chief executive of Families First (North East) made clear that the disgraced former ambassador to the US had not wielded influence over the organsation, despite being invited to take on the role of honorary president more than two decades ago while he was MP.

He said: “[This] is an ‘honorary’ title which is just that – a title. It has no bearing on the organisation’s day to day running nor strategic direction. It’s an internal decision and isn’t even a legal position and therefore does not have any statutory authority, fiduciary duty, or voting rights.”

Mr Thompson continued: “In the 19 years that I have been the chief executive, Mr Mandelson has not entered foot into any of our properties or had any involvement in anything whatsoever Families First (North East) related. In February 2025, a conscious decision was made to remove Mr Mandelson from our organisation’s internal documents and materials. As such, he was no longer regarded as our Honorary President from that point.”

Hartlepool Labour MP Jonathan Brash – who took part in a 2023 fundraiser when he was a Labour candidate entitled “An Evening With Lord Mandelson” – has now denounced him as a “traitor”.

Speaking in the Commons, he said: “I stand here today acutely aware that I am the member of parliament for Hartlepool. And I think today I speak for Hartlepudlians when I look at the evidence before us and say undoubtedly that Peter Mandelson is a traitor.”

Sam Lee, a Hartlepool business and communications consultant who ran in the last Westminster election as an independent, expects a backlash against Labour at the next election.

Mr Mandelson, now 72, was first elected in Hartlepool in 1992 and served until 2004 when he left early to become a European Commissioner.

Ms Lee said: “Mandelson was given Hartlepool because it was a safe seat for Labour at the time. It was like a gift… Hartlepool was gifted to him so he could be in Parliament, not for what he could do for Hartlepool. There’s a difference.”

Claiming that local people want an MP who will “genuinely do good” and “not have any shady backgrounds with people like Epstein”, she said: “Labour’s time is done in this town. We’ve had enough. The town itself has had very little gain from having a Labour MP for many, many years. And we just want what’s best for the town now. We’re sick of this political nonsense.”

A Labour party spokesperson said: “Jeffrey Epstein’s heinous crimes destroyed the lives of so many women and girls and our thoughts remain with his victims. It is right that Peter Mandelson is no longer a member of the Labour party or House of Lords.”