Mandelson’s rollercoaster career grinds to a final stop with a scandal – again

The Epstein affair spells the end of a controversial political journey of firings and rehirings spanning three decades

Peter Mandelson has an extraordinary talent for securing jobs at the top of government, but an even more extraordinary one for leaving them in a blaze of controversy.

When he was startlingly reappointed to the cabinet by his former nemesis Gordon Brown in 2008, he overheard a conversation between two senior civil servants in his new business department.