Peter Mandelson

Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson (born 21 October 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as First Secretary of State from 2009 to 2010.

Peter Mandelson was born in Hendon, Middlesex, on 21 October 1953, the son of Mary Joyce (née Morrison) and George Norman Mandelson.

His father's family were Jewish; his grandfather had founded the Harrow United Synagogue.

His father (known as Tony) was the advertising manager of The Jewish Chronicle who was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Dragoons in the Second World War.

On his mother's side, Mandelson is a grandson of Herbert Morrison, the London County Council Leader and Labour Cabinet Minister in the Attlee ministry.

Mandelson was raised in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

He says of his childhood – "my whole upbringing was framed around the Suburb – my friendships and values".

Mandelson attended Garden Suburb School, and between 1965 and 1972, Hendon County Grammar School.

In 1966 he appeared on stage with the local amateur theatre group, the Hampstead Garden Suburb Dramatic Society, as the eponymous lead in The Winslow Boy.

During his teenage years he joined the Young Communist League due to the UK's support of the U.S. role in the Vietnam War.

He attended St Catherine's College, Oxford.

In the late 1970s he became Chairman of the British Youth Council.

As Chair of the BYC, he was a delegate in 1978 to the Soviet-organised World Festival of Youth and Students in Havana, Cuba.

He was elected to Lambeth Borough Council in 1979 but stood down in 1982, disillusioned with the state of Labour politics.

Mandelson then worked from 1982 to 1985 as a television producer at London Weekend Television on Weekend World, where he formed a friendship with his superior John (now Lord) Birt.

From 1985 to 1990, Mandelson served as Labour's Director of Communications.

He was one of the first to whom the term "spin doctor" was applied and gained the nickname "the Prince of Darkness" because of his "ruthlessness" and "media savvy".

In 1985, the Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock appointed him as the party's Director of Communications.

As Director, he was one of the first people in Britain to whom the term "spin doctor" was applied; he was thus called "the Prince of Darkness".

In 1986 Mandelson ran the campaign at the Fulham by-election in which Labour defeated the Conservative Party.

For the 1987 election campaign, Mandelson commissioned film director Hugh Hudson, whose Chariots of Fire (1981) had won an Oscar as Best Picture, to make a party political broadcast promoting Neil Kinnock as a potential prime minister.

Tagged "Kinnock – the Movie", it led to the party leader's approval rating being raised by 16% or 19% in polls and was even repeated in another PPB slot.

The election, held on 11 June 1987, returned Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives for the third time, although Labour gained 20 seats, and, this time, convincingly pushed the SDP-Liberal Alliance into third place.

Opponents termed the Labour Party's election campaign "a brilliantly successful election defeat".

He ceased being a Labour Party official in 1990 when he was selected as Labour candidate for the constituency of Hartlepool, which was then considered a safe seat.

He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004 and held a number of Cabinet positions under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Mandelson was first elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general election, and made several speeches outlining his strong support for the European Union.

Although sidelined during the brief period when John Smith led the party, Mandelson was by now close to two Shadow cabinet members – Gordon Brown and Tony Blair – each regarded as potential future leaders of the party.

Following Smith's sudden death on 12 May 1994, Mandelson chose to back Blair for the leadership, believing him to be a superior communicator to Brown and played a leading role in the leadership campaign.

This created antagonism between Mandelson and Brown, though they were considered allies in the Labour Party.

In 1994 Kate Garvey suggested that Mandelson (who was at the time being derided by the trade unions and other Labour factions), should adopt a "nom de guerre" throughout Blair's leadership bid, so that he might conceal his considerable role within the campaign team.

Mandelson was one of several key people responsible for the rebranding of the Labour Party as New Labour before its victory in the 1997 election.

He was twice forced to resign from the Cabinet before leaving Parliament to take up an appointment as a European Commissioner.

He later rejoined the Cabinet for a third time after being created a life peer, sitting on the Labour benches in the House of Lords.

He is the only person to have held the position of First Secretary of State as a Peer.

Mandelson has been described as having a "significant influence" on the office of Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and as a "core part" of his network.

He was President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and from 2008 to 2010.

He is the president of international think tank Policy Network, honorary president of the Great Britain–China Centre, and chairman of strategic advisory firm Global Counsel.

Mandelson is often referred to as a Blairite.

He was the European Commissioner for Trade between 2004 and 2008.