After Epstein fallout, UK leader Starmer faces hurdles and rivals as he battles to keep his job

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a battle to stay in post after the fallout from his decision in 2024 to appoint veteran politician Peter Mandelson as the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. despite the latter's ties to the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. There’s widespread anger that the prime minister appointed Mandelson, a grandee of Starmer's own Labour Party, to such a sensitive and high-profile post. Starmer had already sacked Mandelson after a first batch of emails were published in September, showing he remained friends with Epstein after the late financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor.