(Bloomberg) -- British Labour Party grandee Peter Mandelson has had to correct the public record about his ownership of a stake in a political consultancy firm after stating he had sold out of the business.
Mandelson, a member of the House of Lords since 2008, has now updated the parliamentary register to say he retains a significant holding in Global Counsel, a firm he co-founded that’s become one of the most influential advisory groups in the UK.
Earlier this year, Mandelson changed the register to remove a reference to his shareholding after selling 20% of Global Counsel to the Messina Group, an American public relations firm, in a deal that valued the business at £30 million ($39 million), the Financial Times reported at the time, citing people close to the transaction.
The Messina Group is led by a deputy chief of staff to former US President Barack Obama, Jim Messina. Companies House records show that Mandelson still owns 28% of Global Counsel and is its second largest shareholder. At the £30 million valuation, his stake is worth £8.4 million.
Mandelson acknowledged that he had made a mistake and corrected it, following questions from Bloomberg. A spokesperson for Mandelson said the register “had been incorrectly updated during the last update. This has now been rectified by the House of Lords authorities.”
The Labour peer is a close adviser to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, having been one of the most powerful figures in the previous Labour government led by Tony Blair.
He is no stranger to controversies involving his personal finances. In 1998, he was forced to resign from the government after it emerged he had failed to disclose a property loan from a millionaire lawmaker who was then under investigation by his department.
Global Counsel’s co-founder, Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, is also close to the Starmer government and was its top choice to take on the role of investment minister, which would have seen him elevated to the House of Lords.
Wegg-Prosser, Global Counsel’s largest shareholder, turned down the offer because he would have had to forfeit equity and miss out on any windfall from a potential full tie-up with The Messina Group.
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