It was a remarkably soft landing for one of the most controversial figures in British politics. But the timing and nature of Mandelson’s rehabilitation made sense. According to a government source, Blair even at this early date “is moving into election mode”; as important as the Ulster issue is to him, he wants to spend less of his own time on it so that he can concentrate on other matters. Mandelson is the ideal candidate to be Blair’s alter ego in Northern Ireland. “When you talk to Mandelson, you’re in effect talking to Blair,” says Paul Bew of Queen’s University, Belfast. Also, the stalled peace process needed “a kick in the pants,” as a Northern Ireland Office staffer put it. Mandelson’s arrival, says Bew, “shows that Blair is totally committed.” As a bonus, since the Ulster issue is seen as being above party politics, the Northern Ireland job will insulate Mandelson from much of the petty sniping that used to come his way.
Mandelson’s closeness to Blair has long defined his political trajectory, for better or worse. With Blair, Mandelson was a key force for modernization within the party from the late 1980s onward as Labour became less militant and more business-friendly. But Mandelson always had the sharper elbows. As he once told NEWSWEEK, he may have helped to bring the party back from “the brink of extinction,” but he also “offended people.” Some of those people were lying in wait for Mandelson last year, when he finally got what he considered a real job: running the Department of Trade and Industry. Though he was later exonerated on technical grounds by an ethics panel, he was brought down by his failure to declare a £373,000 interest-free house loan from a businessman (and Blair ally) who was being investigated by the DTI.
Mandelson, who is 46 this week, has turned a corner. Whether he can get Blair’s so-called peace train back on track is another story. Talks between the major Ulster political parties broke down in July over the issue of disarming paramiltary groups such as the Irish Republican Army. The intervention of Blair, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and U.S. President Bill Clinton proved futile over the summer. The ministrations of Mo Mowlam, the extraordinarily popular “Saint Mo” whom Mandelson is replacing, were no longer working. Unionists viewed Mowlam as irredeemably pro-nationalist and a “spent force,” according to a source close to Unionist leader David Trimble. Trimble and his party will feel more kindly disposed toward Mandelson. Though “sad” to be leaving the position for another Cabinet post, Mowlam told NEWSWEEK that Mandelson “is a good man for the job.” But Mandelson knows it will take a lot more than Mowlam’s blessing to bring Northern Ireland back from the brink.
