Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, is calling for an investigation into Sir Keir Starmer’s engagement with US tech giant Palantir, a company represented by a lobbying firm co-established by Peter Mandelson.
In February 2025, the Prime Minister and Lord Mandelson, then serving as Britain’s ambassador to the US, visited Palantir’s Washington DC headquarters.
Lord Mandelson facilitated the meeting between Sir Keir and Palantir, which preceded the firm securing a £240 million data analytics contract with the Ministry of Defence.
Downing Street has not clarified whether Sir Keir was aware during his visit that Palantir was a client of Global Counsel, the lobbying firm co-founded by Lord Mandelson.
Global Counsel, known for its diverse clientele including Palantir, GSK, Vodafone, OpenAI, TikTok, and the Premier League, recently severed its association with Lord Mandelson following new information about his connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
The lobbying firm recently announced it had cut ties with Lord Mandelson in the wake of fresh revelations about the peer’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Newly-released documents in the US, known as the ‘Epstein files’, have revealed further details about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with the paedophile financier.
Peter Thiel, a co-founder of Palantir, is also named in the material released by the US Department of Justice and has acknowledged meeting Epstein ‘a few times’.
The Prime Minister and Lord Mandelson, who at the time was Britain’s ambassador to the US, visited Palantir’s offices in Washington DC in February 2025
Lord Mandelson brokered the meeting between Sir Keir and the firm, ahead of Palantir winning a £240million data analytics contract with the Ministry of Defence
Mrs Badenoch told the Financial Times that her party took issue ‘not with Palantir’ but rather the lack of transparency around the meeting and Lord Mandelson’s role.
‘The fact is the meetings were not minuted, so no one knows what was discussed, and then there was a direct grant of £240million – not a tender, not a bid,’ she said.
‘That’s something that needs to be looked at very, very closely. That’s the issue.’
Defence Secretary John Healey has said Lord Mandelson played no role in facilitating the award of the contract to Palantir, which was announced in December last year.
It was a three-year extension of an existing contract for ‘data analytics capabilities supporting critical strategic, tactical and live operational decision making’.
Mr Healey told Bloomberg: ‘Peter Mandelson has no influence on any MoD contracts. The Palantir decision was mine.’
‘Palantir offer unique capabilities with a unique track record and that’s why we’ve struck the agreement with them,’ he added.
‘The deal we struck with Palantir is going to significantly reinforce the innovation of our forces and it will reinforce the safety of this country.’
A Palantir spokesperson said the PM’s visit to its Washington DC offices – which followed Sir Keir’s talks with US President Donald Trump – was ‘a typical government visit to a business, involving a media photocall’.
The PM met with Palantir’s chief executive Alex Karp and the firm’s UK chief Louis Mosley during the visit.
‘It provided an opportunity for the PM to meet with representatives of a company that is working with vital UK institutions, at an office located close to the White House, where he had just met with the president,’ the spokesperson added.
Palantir holds a number of Government contracts across Whitehall, including with the NHS.
A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘Ministers engage with a range of companies as part of their international travel and Palantir is a long-standing investor in the UK.
‘We utilise a range of international suppliers based on operational requirements, value for money and compliance with our security and legal obligations, with all suppliers subject to rigorous due diligence.’
Global Counsel on Friday revealed Lord Mandelson no longer has a stake in the business nor any influence over it.
It said in a statement that it had completed the process of fully divesting the peer’s shares in the company, therefore ending any connections with him.
Lord Mandelson co-founded the London-based firm in 2010 after Labour lost that year’s general election. He stepped down from its board about two years ago.
Global Counsel’s chief executive Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, another co-founder, also announced his departure from the firm.
He said he was stepping down as it was ‘time to draw a line’ between the business and the ‘actions’ of Lord Mandelson.
Mr Wegg-Prosser was previously a political adviser and director of strategic communications under former prime minister Tony Blair, before going on to work as a director at a Russian media firm.
He said: ‘With the completion of the divestment of Peter Mandelson’s stake in the business, I feel that now is the time to draw a line between Global Counsel and his actions.
‘I have nothing but immense pride in the business I founded and the work our amazing team deliver every day.’
When he was appointed US ambassador by Sir Keir in early 2025, Lord Mandelson agreed to put his Global Counsel shares in a ‘blind trust’ until they were sold off.
The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation following allegations that Lord Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to Epstein while he was business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government during the financial crisis.
Scotland Yard has said its probe into Lord Mandelson over alleged misconduct in public office would ‘take some time’ after officers finished searching his homes in London and Wiltshire.
Lord Mandelson has denied the so-called ‘Epstein files’ show he broke any laws or acted for personal gain. He has repeatedly said he regrets his friendship with Epstein.
