‘Look out for rich individuals’: The deep ties between Mandelson lobbying firm and Epstein
As one of London’s many eminent lobbying and advisory outfits, Peter Mandelson’s Global Counsel is well versed in what it takes to manage a reputation.
Set up by the former deputy Prime Minister and Labour spin doctor Benjamin Wegg-Prosser from the embers of Labour’s 2010 general election loss, it has worked on some of the knottiest PR and public affairs projects. It has helped outfits like the Premier League, GSK and Shell, as well as venturing into the influence industry’s more secretive corners. Oligarchs, state-backed Russian oil companies and a firm with ties to the Chinese military are also on record as having paid for its high-priced advice.
In the past four months, however, the boutique advisory has been contending with a reputational issue closer to home: namely, the close ties its disgraced co-founder kept with Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction for sex trafficking.
Spearheaded by chief executive Wegg-Prosser, it has sought to put clear blue water between the company and the intimate relationship their co-founder and chairman had with New York’s most notorious fixer.
It has previously said it never had any business dealings with Epstein. And since the true extent of Mandelson’s ties to the financier first emerged in October, its top brass have been engaged in a thorny and complex process of extricating Mandelson from his 21 per cent stake in the business.
Global Counsel and the Epstein files
However, emails released in the latest ‘Epstein files’ cast new light on the extent to which the disgraced Labour heavyweight – and his colleagues – leant on Epstein for connections, advice and potential avenues for new business; all after he had served a prison sentence for child prostitution in 2008.
The firm was was established by Wegg-Prosser – a former head of communications in Blair’s 10 Downing Street operation – and the former deputy Prime Minister shortly after the Labour party lost the 2010 general election. It promised to help clients navigate “politics, business and policymaking”, and – aided by their close ties to Westminster and beyond – grew to become one of the capital’s most respected and successful consultancies.
The latest tranche of US Department of Justice files released last week, revealed over 800 messages either sent to Epstein from his Global Counsel email address or which mentioned the advisory firm.
Correspondence between Epstein, Mandelson and his Global Counsel colleagues suggest the New York financier played an instrumental – if informal – role in the firm’s early stages.
There is no suggestion that Wegg-Prosser or other executives knew the true extent of Epstein’s involvement in the consultancy’s early stages, but a City AM analysis of the exchanges reveals Epstein’s role to be far more influential than previously thought.
In one exchange from November 2010 – shortly before Global Counsel’s launch was made public – Mandelson asked Epstein whether he was “looking out for rich individuals who need Global Counsel” during a trip to the Middle East.
In another from the same period, Mandelson forwarded the convicted sex trafficker a list of the start-up’s potential ‘leads’, a term used to describe prospects that Global Counsel thought could eventually become clients. A source close to the company now said Mandelson was acting on his own volition when he sent the leads.
Emails from January 2011 show that Wegg-Prosser had also sought the advice of James Palumbo, the entrepreneur and member of the House of Lords. Palumbo had been sent materials relating to the founding of Global Counsel, and he told Wegg-Prosser “I think you’ve made a remarkable start for a new business”.
He then offered his comments on the fledgling firm’s strategy, advising against trying to “be all things to all people” and advised on targeting fewer, higher paying clients. Wegg-Prosser sent the advice to Mandelson who sent it on to Epstein, who replied “good stuff.”
Crisis comms
The vast majority of communications revealed in the Department of Justice (DoJ) disclosure are between Epstein and Mandelson, who Global Counsel’s leadership has said no longer plays any role at the company. However, there are several exchanges between Wegg-Prosser – who remains the firm’s chief executive – and Epstein.
According to a Daily Telegraph report in September 2025 – corroborated by the DoJ files – the Global Counsel boss met Epstein at his home in New York in March 2010. Wegg-Prosser has previously said it was the only occasion he visited the financier. However, exchanges released last week show the pair communicated on multiple occasions over email, with Wegg-Prosser helping Epstein arrange a trip to Moscow in November 2010 – days before Global Counsel was launched officially – that eventually fell through due to visa issues.
A person familiar with the exchange said the Global Council boss had merely connected two offices, due to his time living and running a business in Russia.
Other correspondence with the convicted sex trafficker in March 2011 reveals Wegg-Prosser sent a statement seemingly from a spokesperson for Lord Mandelson which aimed to distance the ex-Labour heavyweight from Epstein.
“Lord Mandelson was in London on 12 and 13 December 2009 prior to travelling to
India on government business, and no such meeting was requested by him,” the email reads.
“Lord Mandelson was introduced to Mr Epstein a decade before by his then partner Ghislaine Maxwell who, along with her father and other members of her family, Lord Mandelson had known for many years before.”
The raft of other emails between Epstein and Mandelson show the statement was compiled even as the pair remained in close contact throughout the period. It is not clear why Wegg-Prosser sent the statement to Epstein, but City AM understands the Global Counsel boss claims to have been acting as a secretary to Mandelson in this instance. The former politician had asked him to pass on the quote – written by the disgraced politician – to Epstein, they said.
Epstein behind the scenes
Elsewhere, emails reveal Mandelson and Wegg-Prosser sought Epstein’s counsel on a potential deal to sell some or all of Global Counsel to Lazard, the investment bank where Mandelson was an adviser and would eventually chair. Wegg-Prosser asked Mandelson for Epstein’s opinion on the company’s valuation. He replied saying it “should be 8 to 12 earnings”.
The revelations will put pressure on the consultancy, which has been trying to distance itself from Mandelson ever since he was fired as the US ambassador to the United States in September.
According to the Financial Times, the Messina Group – the eponymous US political consultancy owned by Obama aide Jim Messina – is seeking to sell down its stake in the controversy-engulfed advisory. Several reports have also said its leadership is trying reassure clients that Mandelson’s divestment from the group is nearly complete.
A Global Counsel spokesman said: “Global Counsel was founded by Ben Wegg-Prosser with Peter Mandelson and with a founding investment from WPP plc in November in 2010. Epstein never played any role in the establishment or ongoing business of Global Counsel, in any form whatsoever.
“Like Gordon Brown and many others we are only now being made aware of the full extent of Mandelson’s conduct.”