Political Wire

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Starmer Says He Was Kept in the Dark on Mandelson

Starmer Says He Was Kept in the Dark on Mandelson

By Leave a Comment

“Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed Parliament on Monday afternoon as his government reels from revelations that Peter Mandelson, his pick to be ambassador to the United States early last year, initially failed security vetting,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Starmer told lawmakers that he was kept in the dark until last Tuesday about the recommendation by a specialist vetting team that Mr. Mandelson should not be granted “developed vetting” — the highest level of security clearance in Britain. That recommendation was overruled by officials at the Foreign Office, the prime minister’s office said last week, and no government minister was informed.”

FavoriteLoadingSave to Favorites

From our partner: Ground News

The Stories Missing From Your Feed

You already know the problem: the same story can look completely different depending on where you read it — and some barely show up at all because algorithms decide what you see.

My goal for Political Wire is to help you get outside those filters — to understand not just what happened, but how it’s being covered and who might be missing it. That’s why I use and recommend Ground News.

It’s an app and website that brings together global news from across the political spectrum, showing each source’s bias, factuality, and ownership.

What I find especially useful is the Blindspot Feed. It highlights stories getting heavy coverage on one side but little on the other — a quick way to see what your usual news diet may be missing.

For a limited time, get 40% off a Ground News Vantage subscription at www.groundnews.com/political.



About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.