LONDON

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to address Labour MPs on Monday evening as he seeks to shore up support within his party amid fallout over the Peter Mandelson scandal linked to new Epstein revelations.

The development follows Morgan McSweeney’s resignation as chief of staff to Starmer on Sunday.

According to local media reports, senior figures have moved to rally behind Starmer, with Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden warning Labour MPs that they would not be forgiven by voters if they removed Starmer and triggered what he described as a destabilizing leadership contest.

Skills Minister Rt Hon Baroness Smith of Malvern said she was “sure” Starmer would remain in office.

Speaking to the BBC on Monday, she said: “Just to be clear, it was the British people that chose Keir Starmer to lead this government and asked him to, in a five-year term, change the country.”

When asked whether she had discussed the possibility of resignation with the prime minister, Baroness Smith said she had not spoken to him directly, adding: “I don’t believe he will, I don’t think he should.”

The debate over Starmer's future has intensified following the resignation of his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, on Sunday, in light of the Epstein scandal.

With Westminster focused on how long he can remain in post after the loss of a key adviser, historical comparisons are being drawn with previous leaders.

Past examples suggest that the resignation of a senior adviser rarely leads to a prime minister’s immediate downfall.

Former British leaders such as Margeret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Therasa May and Boris Johnson all remained in office for months or years after losing influential aides.

On Thursday, Starmer said he was "sorry" for believing Mandelson's "lies" and appointing him as ambassador to the US, as pressure continued to mount on him after he admitted to knowing about Mandelson's ties with convicted sex offender Epstein.

Mandelson was sacked in September, but new Epstein files suggested he shared confidential information with the convicted sex offender when he was a business secretary in 2009.

Mandelson has also stepped down from the House of Lords, and the Labour Party.

The US Justice Department recently released more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law last November.

The materials include photos, grand jury transcripts, and investigative records, though many pages remain heavily redacted. Epstein survivors and victims’ relatives say the release falls short of what the law requires and omits much vital information.

Epstein was found dead by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.