Spotlight turns to FTSE 100 clients of Peter Mandelson’s advisory firm after government sacking
After Peter Mandelson’s dramatic ousting from government over his close relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the firms that chose to partner with his consultancy Global Counsel have come under the spotlight.
More than two dozen major corporations hired Global Counsel to conduct lobbying services over the past two years, disclosures from the Office of the Register of Consultant Lobbyists show, including the period during which Mandelson, who co-founded the business, was a director.
The list of Global Counsel’s recent partners includes the likes of FTSE 100 giants Shell and GSK, as well as investment firm M&G, ChatGPT maker OpenAI and professional services firm Accenture. The disclosures do not describe the extent of the work carried out or the size of sums exchanged.
Labour came under intense pressure to sack Mandelson from his role as the UK’s ambassador to Washington after a series of documents published by the US House Oversight Committee on Monday underscored the closeness of his relationship to Epstein, to whom he referred as “my best pal.”
Further communication between the two men released on Wednesday showed Mandelson continued to show support to Epstein despite the latter’s conviction for soliciting prostitution from someone aged under 18. In an interview, Mandelson said he had been misled over Epstein’s innocence.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer initially insisted Mandelson had his full support, before removing the former MP from office on Thursday morning.
Mandelson’s Global Counsel saw surge in lobbying deals
Public filings show Global Counsel was not hired for any lobby consultancy work between April 2022 and September 2023. But the number of clients the firm partnered with ramped up in subsequent months, peaking at 20 in the third quarter of last year, in signs firms valued its apparent connections with the incoming Labour administration.
Mandelson, a former government minister who founded Global Counsel after Labour lost the 2010 general election, stepped down as a director of the company in May last year before being appointed the UK’s ambassador to Washington in December.
He controls one of the biggest stakes in the business with more than a million shares, Companies House filings show, but significantly sold down his stake in early December last year, taking his holding below 25 per cent. Global Counsel is understood to be seeking a buyer for Mandelson’s remaining shares, to reduce his ownership of the business to zero. Sources familiar with the situation say the process of winding down Mandelson’s stake has been underway for some time and is expected to conclude “in a couple of months.”
Banks were among the most common clients of Global Counsel, the disclosures show, including the likes of FTSE 100 constituent Standard Chartered and US banking giant JP Morgan, which were both listed as clients during the period July to September 2024. JPM was also listed in 2023.
The partnership came just a year after JPMorgan reached a $75m settlement with the US Virgin Islands, who alleged the bank facilitated Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. JPMorgan did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement.
Epstein was a client of JPM between 1998 and 2013, during which time he struck up a relationship with one of the bank’s senior executives, Jes Staley. Staley would later be ousted from his role as the CEO of Barclays amid an investigation into his disclosures on the nature of his relationship with Epstein.
Standard Chartered and JP Morgan declined to comment. The latter is understood to have used the advisory firm for services other than political lobbying.
M&G, which is understood to have worked with Global Counsel during a four month project ending in February, said it no longer had any commercial relationship with the company.
Marylebone-based Global Counsel, which is now headed up by co-founder Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, declined to comment. Accenture, GSK, Open AI and Shell did not respond to a request for comment.