Peter Mandelson's Turbulent Career: Spin Doctor Faces Biggest Test Yet

As the sole EU commissioner for the UK, Peter Mandelson finds himself at the center of a maelstrom of criticism for disrupting the retail purchasing cycle and stripping shelves of Christmas bra-and-knicker sets with his textile export quotas on China. A 20-year veteran of British and European Union politics, Mandelson has faced scandals and controversies throughout his career, including two forced resignations from the British cabinet and a tumultuous relationship with US trade representative Robert Zoellick. Despite his reputation for spin, Mandelson insists that his new role in Brussels is a chance to prove himself as a serious player on the world stage, but his critics question whether he has the aptitude and patience to succeed in the biggest job of his life.

Key Takeaways:

• Peter Mandelson has been the sole EU commissioner for the UK since last year, presiding over the world's biggest trading bloc.
• He has been criticized for disrupting the retail purchasing cycle and stripping shelves of Christmas bra-and-knicker sets with his textile export quotas on China.
• Mandelson has faced two forced resignations from the British cabinet due to scandals involving a home loan from a ministerial colleague and allegations of helping an Indian businessmen with a British passport application.
• He has clashed with US trade representative Robert Zoellick over the aircraft subsidy row between Boeing and Airbus, which has opened up the biggest EU-US trade dispute in years.
• Mandelson's critics question whether he has the aptitude and patience to succeed in his new role, with some accusing him of over-estimating his capacity to deliver on the US-EU relationship.
• He has yet to win unqualified support within his own department and has clashed with Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso over textile quotas on China.
• Mandelson's biggest tests in the next few months will come in stopping the Airbus-Boeing dispute from escalating and working with the US to unlock the Doha world trade round.

Statistics:

• 20 years: Mandelson's career in British and European Union politics.
• 2: the number of times Mandelson has been forced to resign from the British cabinet due to scandals.
• 5 years: the length of Mandelson's term as EU commissioner.
• 51: Mandelson's age.
• 1994: the year Mandelson helped lay the ground for Tony Blair's election as party leader.
• 1997: the year Labour returned to power with the help of Mandelson and Blair's New Labour initiative.
• 1998: the year Mandelson resigned as trade secretary over a home loan scandal.
• 2001: the year Mandelson's spell as Northern Ireland secretary ended due to allegations of helping an Indian businessmen with a British passport application.

Sources:

• "Peter Mandelson left for his summer break in Italy in high spirits, the hero of Europe's shrinking garments industry after persuading China to limit its textile exports." - The Times (no date)
• "His friends say it is his chance to become a serious player on the world stage." - The Times (no date)
• "A faceless Eurocrat Mr Mandelson is not." - The Times (no date)
• "One friend, the author Robert Harris, once said that, with his love of the high life and high society, he is 'too colourful, exotic and clever for his own good'." - The Times (no date)
• "Peter Mandelson was born into a comfortable Labour-supporting family in London in 1953, the grandson of the cabinet minister Herbert Morrison." - The Times (no date)
• "Mr Mandelson, as Labour's media chief, helped to lay the ground for Mr Blair's election as party leader in 1994." - The Times (no date)
• "The party loosened its ties with the trade unions and embraced the private sector and the EU." - The Times (no date)
• "Along with Mr Blair and Gordon Brown - Mr Blair's presumed successor and now Mr Mandelson's arch-enemy - he is credited with masterminding the party's return to power in 1997." - The Times (no date)