Mandelson scandal: Starmer faces Commons vote on whether to be investigated by the Privileges Committee

The Commons will vote today whether to refer the Prime Minister to the Privileges Committee to consider if he misled the House over the way Lord Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US was handled.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle allowed a vote on the issue following requests from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and other senior MPs.

Mrs Badenoch called for Labour MPs to back the referral to the Privileges Committee.

She said: “The Prime Minister misled the House of Commons repeatedly.

“He appointed a national security risk and friend of a convicted paedophile to be our ambassador in Washington, our most sensitive diplomatic post.

“He pretended that full due process was followed for this appointment. It was not.

“He has blamed the appointment on officials when the blame can only be placed at his own door.”

Cabinet minister Emma Reynolds accused the Tories of playing “silly political games” over the issue.

The Speaker’s decision now gives the Labour leadership a headache in deciding whether to order Sir Keir’s MPs to publicly oppose a referral to the committee.

The committee was responsible for MrJohnson’s exit from frontline politics after it investigated him for misleading the House over the “partygate” breaches of Covid-19 laws in Downing Street.

He quit as an MP in 2023 before the committee published a report recommending his suspension.

As leader of the opposition, Sir Keir pushed Mr Johnson over partygate repeatedly.

The Prime Minister has been accused of misleading MPs by saying that “full due process” was followed in appointing Lord Mandelson, who was given developed vetting status despite failing security checks.

The Foreign Office, under then top civil servant Sir Olly Robbins cleared him despite red flags raised by experts at the UK Security Vetting agency responsible for the checks.

Sir Keir has also faced questions for telling MPs that “no pressure existed whatsoever in relation to this case”.

Sir Olly told MPs “my office and the Foreign Secretary’s office were under constant pressure” about the appointment in January 2025, after it had been announced but before the security checks were completed.

Sir Keir told The Sunday Times he was not talking about the “everyday pressure of government” but the suggestion of specific pressure on Sir Olly to grant Lord Mandelson’s developed vetting status.

“(Sir Olly) was really clear in his mind that wasn’t pressure that was put on him. And he also goes on to say that none of this impacted his decision,” Sir Keir said.

There are expected to be further revelations around the Mandelson scandal today, with Sir Keir’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, giving evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee.

He was widely regarded as a protege of Lord Mandelson, and resigned in February over his part in the peer getting the coveted job.

The committee will also hear from Sir Olly’s predecessor, Sir Philip Barton, who is expected to be asked about his successor’s comments around “constant pressure”. The committee will also receive written evidence from Foreign Office official Ian Collard, who briefed Sir Olly on the vetting findings.

Downing Street suggested the timing of the move was driven by next week’s elections to English councils and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

A No 10 spokesman said: “The Government is engaging with the two parliamentary processes that are already running on Peter Mandelson’s appointment with full transparency.

“This is a desperate political stunt by the Conservative Party the week before the May elections because they have no answers on the cost of living or the NHS. Their claims have no substance.”

Labour former Cabinet ministers Alan Johnson and David Blunkett, both Yorkshire MPs, released a joint statement calling the move a “nakedly political stunt with no substance” ahead of the polls.

They said a referral to the watchdog would be a waste of public money and that comparisons with Mr Johnson were “absurd”.