“The distraction needs to end, and leadership in Downing Street needs to change,” Sarwar told reporters, adding that “there have been too many incidences where the wrong judgment calls have been made.”

Affirming that he still considers Starmer a personal friend, Sarwar said he must “put [his] country first.”

Emails released in late January indicate that Mandelson, prior to being appointed ambassador to the U.S., received approximately $75,000 from Epstein and offered the convicted sex trafficker insights on political affairs while serving in former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Cabinet.

The story has dominated British headlines ever since, and the Labour government has tried to distance itself from the ambassador whom it selected, vetted, and appointed.

“Keir Starmer is a decent man, and it is not secret that I have always got on well with him,” Sarwar said, affirming that the prime minister has “dedicated himself to public service.”

He praised the Labour government for accomplishing “so many great things” but said voters “can’t see them and they can’t hear them” amid the spectacle of the Mandelson affair.

Sarwar said he spoke with Starmer before calling the press conference and that he will not be backing any particular alternative for leadership, stressing that he is only concerned with maintaining Labour leadership in Scotland.

“Does this cause me personal hurt and pain? Of course it does,” Sarwar said. “This man is someone I regard as a friend and who I have a certain level of loyalty to. But my first priority and my first loyalty, has to be to my country, Scotland.”

Sarwar’s demands fell on deaf ears — a spokesperson at 10 Downing Street released a statement in the middle of the Scottish Labour leader’s press conference, entirely dismissing the notion of Starmer resigning.

“Keir Starmer is one of only four Labour leaders ever to have won a general election,” the spokesperson said. “He has a clear five-year mandate from the British people to deliver change, and that is what he will do.”

The prime minister has been skewered on all sides of the British political sphere for his government’s decision to appoint Mandelson. The sensitive information the ambassador shared with Epstein prior to his appointment includes forewarning of a multibillion-dollar bailout for the European Union, over $27 billion in asset sales, Labour tax plans, and even Brown’s resignation.

A photo also emerged showing Mandelson interacting with a woman while wearing just a T-shirt and white briefs — as well as emails indicated Mandelson’s romantic partner was receiving financial gifts from Epstein.

Starmer was forced to admit in front of the House of Commons on Wednesday that he had been informed of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein, which extended far past the financier’s conviction for soliciting a child for prostitution, prior to appointing him as ambassador.

“Did the official security vetting [the prime minister] received mention Mandelson’s ongoing relationship with the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein?” Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch asked.

“Yes, it did,” Starmer responded, stuttering at multiple points as jeers and gasps filled the House of Commons. “As a result, various questions were put to him.”

Since the scandal began, critics inside and outside the Labour Party have called for a thorough cleaning out of 10 Downing Street, asserting that all those involved in Mandelson’s appointment must be fired.

EPSTEIN FILES IMPLODE BRITISH POLITICS WITH ‘BIGGEST SCANDAL’ IN ‘OVER ONE CENTURY’

Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff and right-hand man, resigned over the weekend following harsh blowback for his role suggesting Mandelson for the position and fighting to keep him in Washington following the initial emails tying him to Epstein leaked. Downing Street had stated just last week that Starmer retains “full confidence” in McSweeney.

Welsh Labour leader Eluned Morgan is also expected to call for Starmer’s resignation, though an official statement has not yet been made.