"Peter Mandelson has an extraordinary talent for securing jobs at the top of the government, but an even more extraordinary one for leaving them in a blaze of controversy. When he was startlingly reappointed to the cabinet by his former nemesis Gordon Brown in 2008, he overheard a conversation between two senior civil servants in his new business department. Brian Bender, who was planning his"
"retirement the following spring, told Mandelson's new principal private secretary, Richard Abel: Your job is to make sure I go before Peter does. Mandelson, who started his career in Labour politics as a councillor in south London in 1979, has now resigned or been sacked from top-level political jobs three times, in three different decades, having served three different prime ministers."
Peter Mandelson repeatedly secured top government roles while also repeatedly leaving them amid scandal. He served three prime ministers and experienced resignations or sackings from top-level posts across three decades. He was reappointed to the cabinet in 2008 by Gordon Brown and overheard civil servants joke about his tenure. His departure as Washington ambassador followed revelations about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He began as a Lambeth councillor in 1979, became Labour director of communications in 1985 and earned the nickname "prince of darkness" for ruthless media management. He is the grandson of former home secretary Herbert Morrison and is politically talented but uninhibited.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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