An inglorious end.. but the story has legs

FAMOUSLY, Lord Peter Mandelson is a self-styled fighter, not a quitter.

- PAUL ROUTLEDGE

FAMOUSLY, Lord Peter Mandelson is a self-styled fighter, not a quitter.

But yesterday he gave up and walked away from Labour, the party to which he has devoted a lifetime.

Given the sordid new depths of the Epstein scandal he had no choice but to resign. Being pictured in his underpants in the sex-trafficker's Paris flat was the last straw.

It was an abrupt, inglorious end to a career that took him from a childhood admirer of Harold Wilson to the dizzy heights of Labour cabinets and de-facto Deputy Prime Minister under Gordon Brown.

It was also a fitting finale for a rollercoaster ride of high politics, low life and scandal. Mandy went out with a bang, stealing the headlines even from royalty. The one-time Prince of Darkness more notorious than the former Prince Andrew.