Ed Miliband hasn’t resigned as Energy Secretary over ‘Mandelson-Epstein scandal’

19 February 2026

Posts liked thousands of times on Facebook falsely claim that Ed Miliband has resigned from Keir Starmer’s government over supposed links to Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson.

At the time of writing, Mr Miliband remains Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. There are no credible reports that he has resigned.

The Facebook posts claim that the “MANDELSON SCANDAL CLAIMS ANOTHER TOP LABOUR SCALP!” and that “the dramatic exit comes after explosive links surfaced tying the former minister to the paedophile billionaire's network”.

Although Mr Miliband is mentioned in the Epstein files, his name only appears in headlines of newspaper articles and in a briefing that Peter Mandelson forwarded to Epstein which briefly mentions the then-Labour leader Mr Miliband’s attitude to his party’s record on banking.

There is no suggestion that being named in the files implies any wrongdoing.

Related topics

Social media Quick checks

Full Fact fights bad information

Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better.

Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.