Politician credited with being the architect of the remodelling of the UK
Labour party into the entity known as
New Labour. He has been the MP for
Hartlepool since 1992. His backing for
Tony Blair as leader of the Labour party after the untimely death of
John Smith in 1994, resulted in a long standing feud with
Gordon Brown, who was regarded as many as favourite to takeover from Smith.
After Tony Blair and the Labour party won the 1997 General Election, Mandelson was made a Minister without Portfolio, and was responsible for the planning of the Millennium Dome project. Then in July 1998 he was promoted to Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and became a member of the Cabinet. However in December of that year he was forced to resign from the Government after it was discovered that he had borrowed over £300,000 from a fellow Labour MP, millionaire businessman Geoffrey Robinson, for a lavish home in west London. Blair was eager to rehabilitate his long-term ally, and less than 12 months after his fall from grace, he was made Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at a crucial time in the Northern Ireland peace process, as the Northern Ireland Assembly was established as part of the Good Friday agreement of 1998.
Mandelson's ministerial career is now seemingly at an end, following a second resignation in January 2001 after misleading colleagues and Parliament over his role in the passport applications of the Hinduja brothers, who are being investigated for corruption in India, and donated money towards the Millennium Dome. He remains a close advisor to Blair behind the scenes.
Update:In August 2004, Tony Blair appointed Mandelson as the UK's next European Commissioner. Mandelson stepped down from his Hartlepool seat, and will take up his new role as Trade commissioner after approval by the European Parliament on November 1, 2004.