Pressure on Hartlepool Labour Councillors to Strip Disgraced Peter Mandelson of 2009 Honorary Freeman Title...

Neither the Hartlepool Labour Party or its MP Jonathan Brash have stated whether they intend to revoke the now disgraced Peter Mandelson's 2009 honorary freeman of the borough, despite other local councils reportedly set to do so

13th Sep 2025

In the wake of explosive revelations about Lord Peter Mandelson's close ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Hartlepool Borough Council's Labour-dominated leadership is facing growing calls to revoke the former MP's honorary freeman award—bestowed on him in back in 2009.

Despite mounting public scrutiny, Labour councillors for the troubled public institution have so far refused to comment on whether they will back calls to strip the former town MP of the title, leaving residents questioning the town's lingering loyalty to its most controversial political figure.

Mr Mandelson served as the Labour MP for Hartlepool from 1992 - 2004

Mandelson, a key architect of New Labour who served as Hartlepool's MP from 1992 to 2004, received the honour in November 2009. The award, which recognises outstanding contributions to the borough, was controversially bundled with nominations for four other local figures—including Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling and two women running support groups for disabled children and breast cancer patients—to ensure passage under council rules requiring a two-thirds majority.

At the time, the vote passed 22-10 with six abstentions, amid accusations of a "Labour stitch-up" that forced opposition members to support Mandelson or deny the others their due recognition.

Mr Brash , the now serving MP for Hartlepool was the leader of Hartlepool Borough Council back in 2009

Ironically, the motion was proposed by then-council leader Jonathan Brash, a rising Labour star who now serves as the town's MP—elected in 2024 after reclaiming the seat from Conservatives Jill Mortimer. The timing of Mandelson's honour however could not be more damning.

Newly released U.S. documents, including emails from 2008-2009, (around the time Mandelson received his honorary freeman award from Hartlepool Borough Council) reveal the depth of his friendship with Epstein, who was jailed that year for soliciting prostitution from a minor. In one email sent just before Epstein began his 18-month sentence, Mandelson wrote: "I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened."

He even suggested Epstein challenge his "wrongful" conviction and fight for early release, drawing on tactics from Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

These exchanges surfaced around the very period Mandelson was being fêted in Hartlepool, casting a shadow over the award's legitimacy. A Scandal That Toppled an Ambassador—and Now Threatens Local Legacy Mandelson's Epstein links, long rumoured but recently laid bare in a U.S. House Oversight Committee "birthday book" compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's 50th in 2003, have already cost him dearly. On September 11, 2025, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer sacked him as Britain's ambassador to the United States—his third major political downfall after resignations in 1998 and 2001.

How many more "Best Pal's" does Mr Mandelson have ?

There's claims Mr Brash's links to Mr Mandelson propelled him to become Hartlepool's Member of Parliament

In a handwritten note accompanying photos of the pair (including one of Mandelson in a white dressing gown laughing with Epstein), he gushingly described the financier as "my best pal."

Mandelson has since expressed "tremendous regret" for maintaining the relationship "far longer than I should have," admitting he fell for Epstein's "charismatic criminal liar" facade and feels it as an "albatross around my neck."

The fallout has rippled beyond Westminster. Mandelson's advisory firm, Global Counsel, has cut ties with him, and he has warned that more "very embarrassing" details are set to emerge in the coming weeks.

In Hull, cross-party council leaders have united to demand he lose his role as High Steward—a similar honorary position—tabling a motion for removal at their next meeting.

Labour MP Andy McDonald has also voiced "widespread revulsion" within the party, urging Keir Starmer to demonstrate a "moral compass" for Epstein's victims.

Back in Hartlepool, the silence from both Labour councillors and Mr Brash is deafening. Neither have publicly addressed the Epstein scandal, despite local speculation about whether Mandelson's influence helped propel Brash's career—from council leader in 2009 to MP today. Sources suggest the award may have been a "political favour," with Brash's role in it now hanging like a "huge dark cloud" over his parliamentary springboard.

Will "The Prince of Darkness" continue to haunt Hartlepool ?

The freeman title is no mere formality; it's the borough's highest civic honour, shared by only a handful of figures like Stelling, who earned it through tireless charity work.

Revoking it would signal that Hartlepool—once Mandelson's political heartland, where he defiantly declared himself "a fighter, not a quitter" in 2001—will no longer tolerate associations with Epstein's web of abuse.

With more U.S. disclosures looming and Starmer's government already reeling from scandals, the pressure's said to be intensifying. Will councillors act to cleanse the town's honours, or let the "Prince of Darkness" haunt Hartlepool's legacy a little longer?