Sir Olly Robbins, the head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), will be leaving his post, it is understood.The Press Association reported that Sir Keir Starmer and the Foreign Secretary have lost confidence in Robbins and he will be leaving the role.
Claims Robbins will be leaving his role as permanent secretary of the Government department comes after it emerged Lord Peter Mandelson failed security vetting before he was appointed to the role of US ambassador – but the decision was overruled by the FCDO.
Mandelson was initially denied clearance in late January 2025 following a developed vetting process – a highly confidential background check by security officials, The Guardian first reported.
The Government confirmed on 16 April that the FCDO overruled this decision but said that neither Keir Starmer “nor any Government minister” knew about it “until earlier this week”.
On the same day it was announced the Foreign Affairs select committee intends to summon Robbins over his previous evidence on the vetting process for Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.
The revelations conflict claims made by the Prime Minister that Mandelson received approval after undergoing vetting and led to calls from some Labour MPs for him to resign.
On 16 April, a spokesperson for the Government said: “The security vetting process for Peter Mandelson was sponsored by the FCDO [Foreign Office]. The decision to grant Developed Vetting to Peter Mandelson against the recommendation of UK Security Vetting was taken by officials in the FCDO.
“Neither the prime minister, nor any government minister was aware that Peter Mandelson was granted Developed Vetting against the advice of UK Security Vetting until earlier this week.
“Once the prime minister was informed, he immediately instructed officials to establish the facts about why the Developed Vetting was granted, in order to enact plans to update the House of Commons.
“The government is committed to complying with the Humble Address in full as soon as possible.
“Any documentation within the scope of the Humble Address that requires redaction on the basis of national security or international relations will be provided to the ISC [Intelligence and Security Committee of parliament]. This will include documents provided to the FCDO by UK Security Vetting.”
Mandelson was sacked from his role on 11 September 2025 after details emerged about his friendship with late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein
In February, the Government agreed to release documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment after vote by MPs for them to be published.
Some some files have been published by the Government, including a due diligence check carried out by a team at the Cabinet Office sent to the PM on 11 December 2024.
Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office on 23 February, over allegations that he passed on market-sensitive government information to Epstein while serving as a minister in 2010. The former politician was later released on bail.
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