Mandelson, Peter

(1953– )

   After working as an economist for the Trades Union Congress and a current affairs television producer, Peter Mandelson was appointed as the Labour Party’s Director for Campaigns and Communications in 1985, a role in which he is credited as having deployed his considerable presentational skills to modernise the party’s image. He became Member of Parliament for Hartlepool in 1990 and Tony Blair’s campaign manager in the May 1997 election. As an architect of New Labour and a member of the Blairite inner circle, he soon gained Cabinet office in the new administration, serving as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and later Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, from both of which posts he was forced to resign over his personal conduct.

   His career in British politics having seemingly come to a premature end, he was nominated by the Prime Minister as the British representative on the European Commission, for which he serves as Commissioner for Trade Issues. A long-standing pro-European, his personality and views have involved him in frequent controversy and made him several political enemies. But as a key figure in the repositioning and rebranding of his party in the opposition years and as an influential spokesperson for and writer on Blairism, he has been a figure of importance on the political stage in recent years.

   Further reading: D. Macintyre, Mandelson and the Making of New Labour, HarperCollins, 2000