A secret dossier compiled by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele alleges that Lord Mandelson was considered one of the most significant achievements of Russian intelligence in manipulating UK politics over the past three decades, describing him as a “privileged contact” of Moscow’s spy agencies, The Daily Telegraph revealed.
The report, codenamed Project Fish and produced in 2022, claims that Russian spymasters regarded the disgraced peer as “one of the most significant RIS [Russian intelligence services] achievements in manipulating UK politics” and alleges that the KGB first made contact with Lord Mandelson shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The dossier does not provide evidence that Lord Mandelson spied for Russia, and sources close to the peer have dismissed the allegations as nonsense, pointing to numerous occasions throughout his career when he publicly opposed the Kremlin’s interests.
Steele, a former head of MI6’s Russia desk who now runs private intelligence firm Orbis Business Intelligence, compiled the report after leaving government service at the request of a private client seeking to understand the extent of Russian influence operations in the UK. As well as Lord Mandelson, Project Fish alleges that the Kremlin built up files on Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings, Nigel Farage and Jeremy Corbyn, among others. The report does not suggest any of them passed information to the Kremlin or acted improperly.
The disclosure will intensify scrutiny of Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the United States in 2025. The Telegraph reports that Lord Mandelson failed the security vetting process after concerns were raised about his links with senior figures in Russia and China, but that the vetting outcome was overruled and the appointment went ahead regardless. The resulting scandal became one of the factors that contributed to driving Starmer from office as Prime Minister. Downing Street sources refused to be drawn on whether Project Fish’s findings had been shared with government officials before the appointment was made.
The dossier claims that Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR, kept a “dossier” on the details of Lord Mandelson’s relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, and had “meticulously collected and compiled information” about it “over a long period” — information that could potentially have been used as leverage. Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein ultimately cost him the ambassadorship when it emerged he had encouraged Epstein to fight for early release after the financier had been convicted of soliciting a minor for sex.
Project Fish traces Russian intelligence’s interest in Lord Mandelson from his time as the Labour Party’s director of communications in the Soviet era, through his years in Tony Blair’s inner circle, his election to Parliament and his role as EU trade commissioner from 2004 onwards. The report alleges that his position as a non-executive director at Russian conglomerate Sistema “brought him into close contact with intelligence officers” working undercover as Sistema managers and Kremlin officials, though it presents no evidence to support that claim and there is no suggestion Lord Mandelson had any knowledge of any such activity. He was vocal in his opposition to the Kremlin’s seizure of Sistema’s oil and gas assets, and subsequently had his Russian visa suspended for six months. He stepped down from the Sistema board in 2017 and sold his remaining shares in 2021.
The report also discusses Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who was sanctioned in 2022 over his close links to Putin. It notes the 2008 allegations that Lord Mandelson granted Deripaska favours in his role as EU trade commissioner — which he has denied — and states that he “is known to have accepted hospitality” on Deripaska’s superyacht. Emails released by the US Department of Justice also show that Lord Mandelson enlisted Deripaska’s help in securing a Russian visa for Epstein in 2010, which Epstein reportedly used to meet women in Moscow.
Steele is a figure whose work has previously generated intense controversy. He became publicly known as the author of a contested dossier on Donald Trump in 2017 alleging that members of Trump’s campaign team had conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. A federal investigation led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller did not verify the dossier’s most explosive claims. The US Department of Justice’s inspector general found in 2019 that the CIA had dismissed the Steele dossier as little more than “an internet rumour” and that the FBI was only able to corroborate “limited information” from it. It later emerged that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign had helped fund the dossier through intermediaries. Some of those with knowledge of Project Fish have also cast doubt on the reliability of its sources and the steps taken to verify information contained within it.
The Metropolitan Police is separately investigating Lord Mandelson over alleged leaks to Epstein while he served as a senior member of Gordon Brown’s government, which could amount to misconduct in public office. The EU is also investigating him over possible fraud, corruption or serious misconduct during his time as trade commissioner. Both Lord Mandelson and Steele declined to comment.
