Bridget Phillipson

Bridget Phillipson is a British Labour politician who has served as Secretary of State for Education since 5 July 2024 and as Minister for Women and Equalities since 8 July 2024 in the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer. She has been the Member of Parliament for Houghton and Sunderland South since 2010. She has no documented personal connection to Jeffrey Epstein, the Epstein files, or Peter Mandelson; her connection to the subject arises entirely from her public role as a Cabinet minister commenting on the UK government’s response to the matter.

Phillipson is not named in the Epstein files, nor is she among those identified in reporting as having cultivated relationships with Epstein. Her appearances in coverage of the scandal are as a government spokesperson rather than as a person identified in the documents themselves.

In her ministerial capacity, Phillipson has commented publicly on the UK fallout from the files. In remarks to LBC dated 4 February 2026, she called on the Royal Family to cooperate with the police investigation, saying “Anyone, if the police want to discuss matters with them, should co-operate fully, of course, as there are live discussions and investigations underway by the police,” and indicated she would like to see Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor testify before the US Congress. In the same comments she called on former Labour peer Peter Mandelson to share any information he held about Epstein, while stressing that “what matters most in all of this is the impact of Jeffrey Epstein’s actions on victims, on the women and girls who’ve faced appalling suffering.” Mandelson, by contrast, had a well-documented relationship with Epstein: he was dismissed as UK ambassador to the United States on 11 September 2025 and arrested on 23 February 2026 on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Is Bridget Phillipson in the Epstein files?

No. Based on the sources reviewed, Bridget Phillipson is not named or implicated in the Epstein files, and there is no reference to Epstein in her public biography. Her relevance to the subject is strictly that of a UK Cabinet minister — Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities — who has publicly commented on the government’s response, including calling for cooperation with the police investigation and for transparency, and criticising Peter Mandelson’s ties to Epstein, as reported by LBC. There is no documented basis for any personal connection between Phillipson and Epstein.