Mandelson: A Homosexual History - Episode Five

Mandelson: A Homosexual History - Episode Five

From Bad Gays by Huw Lemmey & Ben Miller

May 27, 2026 · 57 min · Season 10 · Episode 140

About this episode

The episode discusses Peter Mandelson's political journey and his influence on the Labour Party amidst a leadership crisis.

Today we are reaching the next to last chapter––for now!––of the Mandelson story. Listen to the sixth and final episode now by subscribing to Extra Bad Gays on Patreon. As we are recording this, on 18th May 2026, the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is facing a potential leadership challenge and a collapse in legitimacy following two major crises, both of these the responsibility of Peter Mandelson; one, directly, the other a consequence of the changes of which Mandelson has been the driving force of for almost 40 years. The first crisis is Starmer’s appointment of Mandelson as Ambassador to the United States, despite his having failed a Foreign Office vetting procedure, and the fallout of that once Mandelson was outed as a close long-term friend of the child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, to whom it’s alleged he passed sensitive government and financial information while in power. The other is the complete decimation of Labour in the recent local elections, and in elections for the Welsh and Scottish devolved assemblies, which saw the party lose close to 1500 local council seats and, in Wales, lose a century-long winning streak as the country’s largest party. In today’s episode…

People in this episode

Hosts: Huw Lemmey, Ben Miller

Topics covered

  • political history
  • Labour Party
  • Peter Mandelson
  • leadership crisis
  • influence in politics

Keywords

  • Mandelson
  • Labour Party
  • Keir Starmer
  • political influence
  • leadership challenge
  • political history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Labour Party

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