United Kingdom in February 2026: the most important developments in politics
In February 2026 British politics was dominated by the fallout of the Jeffrey Epstein files for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. After documents showed Peter Mandelson's ties to Epstein, Mandelson left the Labour Party and resigned from the House of Lords. On 4 and 5 February Starmer said he regretted appointing him ambassador to the United States and apologized to Epstein's victims. His chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, resigned on 8 February, taking responsibility for advising the appointment. On 9 February the leader of Scottish Labour called on Starmer to step down. Starmer said he would stay on, and reports named Wes Streeting among those ready to challenge him. The cabinet secretary, the top civil servant, also resigned on 12 and 13 February, and a new head of the civil service was appointed on 19 February.
The investigations moved forward. Police opened a criminal investigation into Mandelson over alleged leaks of information to Epstein, and on 23 February he was arrested and released on bail. On 19 February police arrested Prince Andrew on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and he was released while the investigation continued. On 24 February the government said it would release documents about Prince Andrew, and the EU's anti-fraud agency was asked to investigate Mandelson's time as an EU trade commissioner.
On 27 February Labour lost a Greater Manchester seat it had held for about a century to the Green Party in a by-election. Starmer called the result very disappointing and said he would continue.
Abroad, President Donald Trump warned Starmer on 18 February that giving up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, home to the Diego Garcia base, would be a "big mistake", and by 26 February the deal with Mauritius was described as in disarray. Reports said Britain declined a US request to use its bases for possible strikes on Iran. On 28 February Starmer chaired an emergency Cobra meeting after US-Israeli strikes on Iran, and the UK, France and Germany jointly condemned Iranian attacks on other Middle Eastern countries.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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