After Epstein fallout, UK leader Starmer faces hurdles and rivals as he battles to keep his job

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a battle to stay in post after the fallout from his decision in 2024 to appoint veteran politician Peter Mandelson as the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. despite the latter's ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Starmer’s judgment is in the spotlight like never before, especially after the release last week of millions of Epstein-related documents by the U.S. Justice Department showed how close those links were.

There’s widespread anger that the prime minister appointed Mandelson, a grandee of Starmer's own Labour Party, to such a sensitive and high-profile post. Starmer had already sacked Mandelson after a first batch of emails were published in September, showing he remained friends with Epstein after the late financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor.

But the emails made public this week show that Mandelson also passed on sensitive — and potentially market-moving — government information to the disgraced financier in 2009, when he was a member of the Labour Cabinet.

Starmer’s leadership has now been called into question. Several Labour lawmakers have said that he should quit, while others are clearly uncomfortable, following a series of missteps since the party returned to power in a landslide victory in July 2024.

Starmer is trying to fight back. He has apologized to the British public and to the victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking for believing what he has termed “Mandelson’s lies.”

There are a number of ways in which Starmer could go, some more straightforward than others.

The simplest option is that Starmer announces his intention to resign, triggering an election for the Labour leadership. A resignation could possibly come if a delegation of Cabinet members tell Starmer he has lost too much support within the party or if members of his government quit in protest.

Those considered to harbor leadership ambitions include Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Home Secretary Shabana Mahood and former deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, who had to resign last year after admitting she didn’t pay enough tax on a house purchase. The problem for Rayner is that an investigation into that is ongoing.

But there's no clear front-runner.

Andy Burnham, the popular mayor of Manchester who was blocked from standing at a special election in the city later this month, would not be eligible as the leader must come from the parliamentary party.

Whoever does run, the election would likely take weeks, with Starmer likely staying in post until that concludes.

Were Starmer decide to resign immediately, the Cabinet and Labour’s governing body would likely pick an interim leader to be prime minister, probably someone not standing to be Labour leader. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy could fit the bill.

Under Labour’s rules, candidates must have the support of a fifth of the parliamentary party, which equates to 80 lawmakers.

Those meeting that threshold would then have to receive the support of 5% of the local constituency Labour parties or at three least party affiliates, of which two must be trade unions. Affiliates are groups or organizations that are deemed to have interests consistent with those of the Labour Party; including trade unions and co-operative and socialist societies.

Eligible members of the party and affiliates will then vote for the leader using an electoral system that ranks the candidates. The winner is the first candidate to secure over 50% of the vote.

King Charles III would then invite the winner to become prime minister and form a government.

If Starmer does not resign, he could face a challenge, potentially from within his Cabinet.

Unlike the Conservative Party, which has a history of getting rid of leaders such as Margaret Thatcher in 1990 and Boris Johnson in 2022, Labour does not have that muscle memory. No Labour prime minister has ever been dislodged, though Tony Blair announced his plan to resign in 2007 after a series of low-level resignations.

Challengers would have to meet the eligibility thresholds above, but Starmer would automatically be on the ballot.

Starmer faces a series of hurdles in the weeks ahead. The first will probably come within days when files related to the vetting of Mandelson are published. Starmer will be hoping they show the scale of Mandelson’s lies. Should they not, that could be a point of high jeopardy for the prime minister.

Another potential pitfall could be the special election in Gorton and Denton on Feb. 26, traditionally a safe Labour seat. However, this time it will be a tough fight, with challenges from the anti-immigration Reform U.K. on the right and the Greens on the left.

The decision to bar Burnham from standing also poses a risk for Labour. Though he was blocked on the grounds that a Burnham victory would trigger a costly special election for the mayoralty in Manchester, critics claim that Starmer did not want to see a potentially dangerous rival back in the House of Commons.

After that comes a raft of elections in May. Many in Labour fear the party could lose power in Wales for the first time since the legislature was created in 1999, fall way short in Scotland and get battered in local elections in England.

It's clear that Starmer faces a difficult landscape.

And that’s barring surprise developments that could further rock his premiership.

“Events, dear boy, events,” Harold Macmillan, prime minister between 1957 and 1963, said when asked what the greatest challenges for leaders were.

FILE - President Donald Trump, left, gets a reaction from Britian's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson, right, as they take questions from members of the media after announcing a trade deal between U.S. and U.K. in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file)

FILE - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, talks with Britain's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 in Washington. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP, file)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer adjusts his glasses as he waits to deliver his speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer talks with members of the audience after delivering a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)

Sonny Jurgensen, the Hall of Fame quarterback whose strong arm, keen wit and affable personality made him one of the most beloved figures in Washington football history, has died. He was 91.

While a cause was not disclosed, a Washington Commanders spokesperson confirmed Friday the team learned of Jurgensen’s death that morning from his family.

“We are enormously proud of his amazing life and accomplishments on the field, marked not only by a golden arm but also a fearless spirit and intellect that earned him a place among the legends in Canton,” his family said in a statement. “He lived with deep appreciation for the teammates, colleagues and friends he met along the way. While he has taken his final snap, his legacy will remain an indelible part of the city he loved and the family he built.”

Jurgensen arrived in Washington in 1964 in a surprise quarterback swap that sent Norm Snead to the Philadelphia Eagles. Over the next 11 seasons, Jurgensen rewrote the team’s record books.

He topped 3,000 yards in a season five times, including twice with Philadelphia, in an era before rules changes opened up NFL offenses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and remains the only Washington player to wear the No. 9 jersey in a game.

“Sonny Jurgensen is, and always will be, one of the defining legends of Washington football,” said controlling owner Josh Harris, who grew up a fan. “For me, Sonny was the embodiment of what it means to don the burgundy and gold: tough, smart and endlessly devoted to this franchise and its fans."

Jurgensen’s four-plus decades of association with the franchise in Washington as a quarterback and then as a broadcaster made him a one-name celebrity in the nation’s capital. He was the one and only Sonny, contrary but loyal: the everyman red-headed football player with the out-of-shape belly who kept a connection with fans but could also pull out a cigar and hobnob with the team owner.

Notorious for breaking curfew, Jurgensen was also known for ignoring coaches and joking about his less-than-ideal physique. He more than compensated with his pinpoint passing from the pocket, helping make the then-Redskins exciting and competitive again, leading the team to more victories in his first three seasons than the club had won in its previous six.

“All I ask of my blockers is 4 seconds,” he once said. “I try to stay on my feet and not be forced out of the pocket. I beat people by throwing, not running.”

That’s exactly what he did on Nov. 28, 1965, when he dismissed the crowd’s boos and rallied Washington from a 21-0 deficit to a 34-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys by throwing for 411 yards and three touchdowns. The game was the highlight of coach Bill McPeak’s five losing seasons with the club.

“I’m glad the crowd let me stay in,” Jurgensen said sarcastically after the game. “It was decent of them, and maybe Bill McPeak appreciates it, too.”

Jurgensen played through numerous injuries and even won over the notoriously tough Vince Lombardi, who coached Washington to its first winning season in more than a decade in 1969. Lombardi said of Jurgensen, “He is the best I have seen.”

But Lombardi died the following year, and Jurgensen never really hit it off with defense-minded successor George Allen. Washington acquired Billy Kilmer, generating the great “Sonny vs. Billy” debates that lasted until Jurgensen retired after the 1974 season.

“Few players could rival Sonny Jurgensen’s genuine love of the game that continued long after his playing days," Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said. "Watching Sonny throw a football was like watching a master craftsman create a work of art.”

Jurgensen finished his career with 2,433 completions for 32,224 yards and a 57.1 completion percentage. He threw 255 touchdown passes, 189 interceptions and had a career rating of 82.6. He made the Pro Bowl five times, led the NFL in passing yards five times, and will always be in the record books for an untoppable 99-yard touchdown pass to Gerry Allen in 1968.

Washingtonians too young to remember Jurgensen as a player came to adore him for his astute observations as part of the radio broadcast trio of “Sonny, Sam and Frank.” Jurgensen, Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff and play-by-play man Frank Herzog would fuss and laugh while both rooting for and criticizing the burgundy and gold.

Jurgensen also became an unofficial confidant-at-large around the organization. He took Gus Frerotte under his wing when the young quarterback was battling Heath Shuler for the starting job in the mid-1990s. He became a member of Daniel Snyder’s inner circle after Snyder bought the team in 1999, arriving in the owner’s helicopter and getting a special sideline seat to watch practices.

Still, Jurgensen wouldn’t hesitate to question decisions and performances he didn’t like, especially when it came to quarterbacks. He often pined for the days when QBs were allowed to call their own plays.

Born Christian Adolph Jurgensen III in Wilmington, North Carolina on Aug, 23, 1934, Jurgensen was a two-way star at Duke and was drafted in the fourth round by the Eagles in 1957. He sat behind Norm Van Brocklin until 1961, when he took over the starting job and threw for 3,723 yards, 32 touchdown and 24 interceptions — all league highs.

Three years later he found himself on the way to Washington on April 1, 1964.

“Someone came in and said, ‘You were traded to the Redskins,’ ” Jurgensen said in a 2007 interview. “I said ‘No, it’s April Fool’s Day, you’re kidding.’ He said, ‘No, I’m not kidding. I just heard it on the radio.’

“So I was shocked.”

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FILE - Former Washington Redskins quarterback Sonny Jurgensen sits in a golf cart in a tunnel before an NFL football game between the Redskins and the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - Washington quarterback Sonny Jurgensen looks to pass against the New York Giants during an NFL football game in 1974. (AP Photo/File)