Peter Mandelson has been arrested by detectives investigating claims he committed misconduct in public office during his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Video footage showed him being driven away from his home in an unmarked car shortly after being escorted from his home by officers.
The Metropolitan police have been investigating the alleged leaking by Mandelson of Downing Street emails and market-sensitive information to Epstein.
A police spokesperson said: “Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
“He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview.
“This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”
The former UK ambassador to the US is understood to believe he has not committed any offence.
A police investigation into Mandelson was opened after the release of files related to the late disgraced financier.
In February, officers searched two properties linked to Mandelson, 72, in London and Wiltshire.
Then the Met deputy assistant commissioner Hayley Sewart said: “The searches are related to an ongoing investigation into misconduct in public office offences, involving a 72-year-old man.”
In an earlier statement, Sewart said: “This will be a complex investigation requiring a significant amount of further evidence-gathering and analysis. It will take some time to do this work comprehensively.”
The revelations about Mandelson’s links to Epstein have put Keir Starmer under intense pressure over the decision to appoint Mandelson as US ambassador in December 2024.
The prime minister acknowledged he knew – as had been reported widely in the media – that Mandelson and Epstein were in contact after Epstein was jailed in 2008 for child sex offences.
Mandelson, the grandson of the former Labour home and foreign secretary Herbert Morrison, has been a significant figure in the Labour party for five decades.
He was selected as the party’s candidate for the safe seat of Hartlepool in 1990, winning it in the 1992 general election. An early backer of Tony Blair, he was seen as one of the key architects of New Labour and became the director of Labour’s landslide 1997 general election campaign before being handed multiple roles in government.
The Epstein revelations and resulting furore led Mandelson to quit the Labour party. He also resigned from the House of Lords.
