Peter Mandelson should "never have been appointed" as the ambassador to the US, Yvette Cooper has said as she declined to say whether Keir Starmer was a strong and effective leader.
The British foreign secretary described the disclosure of messages over his appointment as an "unedifying process", a day after the government released a second tranche of more than 1,000 pages of documents.
Some of the messages proved embarrassing for ministers, including for Mr Starmer whom Mr Mandelson described as "consistently going for direction B".
Asked about the disgraced peer's portrayal of the prime minister's working cycle as "advance/buckle/advance/buckle", Ms Cooper told reporters during a trip to Beijing: "What I would say is that Peter Mandelson should never have been appointed as ambassador to the United States, and look, of course there's been a lot of transparency now about messages being released.
"That's always an unedifying process but right to be transparent.
"We mustn't forget two things, first is that in the end this whole thing started about Epstein's abuse of young women and girls, and sometimes the conversation gets pulled away from that.
"And secondly, I think the whole government is getting on with the most important issues that affect our country and that's exactly why I'm here in China having these important discussions about international security."
Ms Cooper evaded a question on whether she could describe the prime minister as a strong and effective leader.
She replied: "I'm in China pursuing issues around international security which follows on from the prime minister's visit here to China with President Xi earlier this year."
Mr Starmer sacked Peter Mandelson in September 2025 after growing pressure to remove him from office following leaked emails which showed Mr Mandelson sent supportive messages even as Jeffrey Epstein faced jail for sex offences.
MPs voted earlier this year to force the disclosure of documents relating to his time as ambassador.
