The peer made the comment in a handwritten letter to the then-Foreign Secretary.

16:03, Mon, Jun 1, 2026 Updated: 16:10, Mon, Jun 1, 2026

Lord Mandelson

The latest documents relating to Lord Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador have been published (Image: Getty)

Lord Peter Mandelson promised the Government would “never regret” appointing him as US ambassador. The handwritten note to then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy was published alongside thousands of new documents relating to the peer being given the plum Washington job.

Lord Mandelson wrote: "I wanted to drop you a line, personally, about Washington. Thankfully, the media speculation has gone away and I hope this was not too irritating to you. I just wanted you to know that if you were minded to appoint me I would make sure you never regret it.”

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He added that navigating Britain’s interests “through the Trump administration will require super-human skills and luck and a massive team effort”.

Lord Mandelson said: “For me it would be the last thing I do in public life and it would be a huge honour to serve you and the Government in this role. So if you are up for it, so am I.”

The note, dated November 18 2024, appears to have been written as Lord Mandelson was awaiting the results of a vote of who would be Oxford University’s next chancellor, a job he was said to be among the frontrunners for at the time.

It was written in blue pen on notepaper headed with his name and a House of Lords seal

The files include thousands of previously private WhatsApp messages exchanged between figures at the top of Government.

Ahead of their publication, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman described the sweeping whole of Government effort to publish the documents as an “unprecedented piece of Government transparency”.

It is the second batch of papers relating to Sir Keir Starmer’s ill-fated decision to give the prestigious Washington role to Lord Mandelson rather than a career diplomat.

The peer was sacked in September 2025 just nine months into the job when more details emerged about his friendship with Epstein.

Subsequent revelations in the Epstein Files led to a Metropolitan Police investigation into alleged misconduct in public office.

No 10 indicated the release of documents was everything it planned to publish on Lord Mandelson, apart from files held back at the request of Scotland Yard to avoid jeopardising its investigation.