Foreign Office Top Civil Servant Quits After Mandelson Vetting Overrule

Olly Robbins is leaving his post as the Foreign Office's top civil servant after the department did not inform the prime minister that Peter Mandelson had failed developed vetting, officials said.

Peter Mandelson was reportedly denied developed vetting in late January 2025 yet formally took up the ambassador role on 10 February 2025 and was sacked in September 2025 over links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Opposition leaders including Conservative Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat Sir Ed Davey have called for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign if he misled Parliament, and several parties have demanded investigations, opposition figures said.

Robbins had been appointed permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office in January 2025 and had been in the job about three weeks when the decision to overrule the vetting was made, and the Mandelson affair has already forced two senior officials to resign, officials said.

A government spokesperson said Starmer was not aware the Foreign Office had overruled the security recommendation and that the prime minister instructed officials to establish the facts and update the House of Commons, with a Commons statement expected on Monday, officials said.